SARATOGA SPRINGS – Saratoga Arts Fest and Spring Street Gallery announce the lineup for the 2015 Arts Fest Friday Series, four entertainment-filled events set in a different venue each month. Arts Fest Fridays feature performances and offerings from a wide range of Saratoga arts organizations and businesses. The events, which are designed to appeal to multiple generations of interests, are presented free of charge and will take place on the first Friday of the month from September through December 2015. The new Arts Fest Fridays marks a change from previous Saratoga Arts Fest’s yearly festival model.
“The four day Arts Fest weekend event in June was much loved and attended by the community and we are grateful for the vision, support and enthusiasm of the leadership that was evident in this program,” says Dee Sarno, Chair of the Saratoga Arts Board of Directors and a long-time leader in the Capital Region’s arts community. “Through the years there were some challenges, and for the benefit of our arts partners and others, we felt it was appropriate to look at a different concept for Arts Fest. So after many months of meetings and input from our partner arts organizations, sponsors, and member artists, the Arts Fest Board of Directors is thrilled to debut a new monthly Arts Fest concept.”
The new Arts Fest events will be produced in partnership with Spring Street Gallery.
“The once-a-month Arts Fest Friday model helps us to really shine a spotlight on the featured venue and featured arts groups,” said Maureen Sager, Executive Producer of Arts Fest Fridays, and Executive Director of Spring Street Gallery, a not-for-profit arts and performance space in Saratoga Springs. “To keep things fresh and reflect multiple perspectives and tastes, we tapped a different production team for each event. We tasked them to create events that are suited to the venue and to their particular – and very interesting! – tastes and interests. We’re really thrilled with the variety of programming our producers have come up with!”
The Arts Fest Friday series debuts with a celebration of Saratoga Springs’ Beekman Street and its colorful and diverse ethnic and cultural history. Vintage Beekman Street is designed to transport visitors back to a time when change was in the air and the neighborhood was alive with an evolving and diverse tapestry of Irish, Italian and African American communities. Part street fair, part street performance, the event offers an energetic mix of period music, costumed performers, antique cars, and great ethnic food served up by Beekman Street restaurants.
The Vintage Beekman Street Fest will take place Friday, September 4 from 5 to 8 p.m. on Beekman Street in Saratoga Springs.
Future Arts Fest Fridays include:
Universal Preservation Hall Goes Avant Garde: Friday, October 2.
Tang Teaching Museum Vaudeville Circus: Friday, November 6.
Behind the Scenes at Home Made Theater: Friday, December 4.
For more information, visit saratogaartsfest.com
