Boston Arts Festival
Encyclopedia
The Boston Arts Festival is an annual event designed to showcase the visual and performing arts in Boston. It is also called "ähts" — a good humored poke at the Boston accent. The festival is also used to promote Boston's Open Studios program.
The event brings over 50,000 visitors to Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, on Boston Harbor
, where they can meet the artists and craftspeople who are there to share a wide variety of art and high-end craft work, including painting, photography, ceramics, jewelry and sculpture, and much more.
The title also refers to a similarly named event that existed during the 1950s and '60s. Tents housing displays of works of fine art snaked through the walkways of the Public Garden. Across the street on the Common, an outdoor stage featured a variety of performances—free to the public—ranging from classical and popular concerts to performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas by Martyn Green's company. The Festival drew hundreds of thousands of people, but in the mid-1960s organizers announced a year's "break" to reassess finances, and the earlier version of the Festival never returned.
Revived in 2003 as a one-day event by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the festival started with the mission of launching the Boston Open Studios and performing arts seasons. Under clear blue skies, the festival drew huge crowds to the newly re-designed Christopher Columbus Park on Boston’s Waterfront. Highlights of the event included lively performances by Boston Lyric Opera
, performing Italian arias, La Pinata presenting folkloric dance, the Mayor’s Mural Crew offering interactive mural painting and watercolor exercises, and reports from some visual artists of record breaking sales.
2004 saw the festival being expanded to two days in the same venue, with highlight performances from Boston Ballet
and Jazz Hip Hop Orchestra, and huge crowd attendance.
To celebrate Boston
’s 375th Birthday, the 2005 event moved some of its performances to downtown and Faneuil Hall
. The main venue remained Christopher Columbus Park. Again, Boston Ballet
proved hugely popular alongside Chu Ling Dance and Haitian singer Gi Frants.
In 2006, the festival continued to benefit from fine weather and played host, for the first time, to Diablo Glass, who gave glass blowing demonstrations in the park.
Firmly established, the festival drew record crowds in 2007, when juried artists exhibited and sold their artwork in a specially built artists’ village. Opera Boston
made their festival debut to great acclaim as did up-and-coming harpist Maeve Gilchrist on the new Garden Stage to complement the Waterfront Stage. Boston Pops Ensemble and the very popular Boston Gay Men’s Chorus also made their debuts.
Building on the success of 2007, the 2008 event expanded to become a three-day event. Visual artists were now able to exhibit and sell their work on Friday while special guests Blue Man Group
and Buffalo Tom
entertained audiences from the Waterfront Stage. Despite the wettest day in the festival’s short history, large crowds turned out as the festival opened to great energy.
The rest of the weekend brought better weather and a full entertainment program on two stages. An attendance record was set for the festival on Saturday with an unprecedented turnout and individual artists reported record sales. Boston Children’s Museum provided activities for children alongside the Mayor’s Mural Crew. The Garden Stage played host to Pan United and harpist Aine Minogue, amongst others, while on the Waterfront stage, the upcoming group Everyday Visuals shared billing with dance troupe OrigiNation, songwriter Bleu
, and for the seventh year in a row, Boston Ballet
.
The event brings over 50,000 visitors to Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, on Boston Harbor
Port of Boston
The Port of Boston, , is a major seaport located in Boston Harbor and adjacent to the City of Boston...
, where they can meet the artists and craftspeople who are there to share a wide variety of art and high-end craft work, including painting, photography, ceramics, jewelry and sculpture, and much more.
The title also refers to a similarly named event that existed during the 1950s and '60s. Tents housing displays of works of fine art snaked through the walkways of the Public Garden. Across the street on the Common, an outdoor stage featured a variety of performances—free to the public—ranging from classical and popular concerts to performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas by Martyn Green's company. The Festival drew hundreds of thousands of people, but in the mid-1960s organizers announced a year's "break" to reassess finances, and the earlier version of the Festival never returned.
History
Back in the 1950s, Boston artist, sculptor and photographer Ernst Halberstadt and his good friend Harold Plotkin (poet and businessman) started the original "Boston Arts Festival". It was an incredible success, so much so that politicians after several years had to get in on the action, with others wanting to be "somebody important", and Harold and Ernst simply bowed out. Ernst never was one to play politics and really detested giving galleries 40-50% of the price of a painting for just hanging it on a wall and selling it. That was why the whole thing started. He wanted a place where artists could sell their work and keep all or most of the money.Revived in 2003 as a one-day event by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the festival started with the mission of launching the Boston Open Studios and performing arts seasons. Under clear blue skies, the festival drew huge crowds to the newly re-designed Christopher Columbus Park on Boston’s Waterfront. Highlights of the event included lively performances by Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera
Boston Lyric Opera is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976.Each season, BLO produces three mainstage productions at the Citi Performing Arts Center Shubert Theatre in Boston and a fully staged, one-hour English language version of a popular opera for school...
, performing Italian arias, La Pinata presenting folkloric dance, the Mayor’s Mural Crew offering interactive mural painting and watercolor exercises, and reports from some visual artists of record breaking sales.
2004 saw the festival being expanded to two days in the same venue, with highlight performances from Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
and Jazz Hip Hop Orchestra, and huge crowd attendance.
To celebrate Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
’s 375th Birthday, the 2005 event moved some of its performances to downtown and Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
. The main venue remained Christopher Columbus Park. Again, Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
proved hugely popular alongside Chu Ling Dance and Haitian singer Gi Frants.
In 2006, the festival continued to benefit from fine weather and played host, for the first time, to Diablo Glass, who gave glass blowing demonstrations in the park.
Firmly established, the festival drew record crowds in 2007, when juried artists exhibited and sold their artwork in a specially built artists’ village. Opera Boston
Opera Boston
Opera Boston is an opera company in Boston, Massachusetts. It specializes in innovative repertoire and rarely heard works, along with opera education and outreach programs designed to bring opera education to children, in schools and after-school programs throughout the Boston area.Its home base is...
made their festival debut to great acclaim as did up-and-coming harpist Maeve Gilchrist on the new Garden Stage to complement the Waterfront Stage. Boston Pops Ensemble and the very popular Boston Gay Men’s Chorus also made their debuts.
Building on the success of 2007, the 2008 event expanded to become a three-day event. Visual artists were now able to exhibit and sell their work on Friday while special guests Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group
Blue Man Group is an organization founded by Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton. The organization produces theatrical shows and concerts featuring popular music, comedy and multimedia; recorded music and scores for film and television; television appearances for shows such as The Tonight...
and Buffalo Tom
Buffalo Tom
Buffalo Tom is an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis. The band's name is derived from the band Buffalo Springfield and the first name of the drummer.-Career:Dinosaur Jr...
entertained audiences from the Waterfront Stage. Despite the wettest day in the festival’s short history, large crowds turned out as the festival opened to great energy.
The rest of the weekend brought better weather and a full entertainment program on two stages. An attendance record was set for the festival on Saturday with an unprecedented turnout and individual artists reported record sales. Boston Children’s Museum provided activities for children alongside the Mayor’s Mural Crew. The Garden Stage played host to Pan United and harpist Aine Minogue, amongst others, while on the Waterfront stage, the upcoming group Everyday Visuals shared billing with dance troupe OrigiNation, songwriter Bleu
Bleu
bleu or BLEU may refer to:* the French word for blue* Three Colors: Blue, a 1993 movie* Bilingual Evaluation Understudy, a machine translation evaluation metric* Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union...
, and for the seventh year in a row, Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet
Boston Ballet, founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams, was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. Boston Ballet’s national and international reputation developed under the leadership of Artistic Directors Violette Verdy , Bruce Marks , and Anna-Marie Holmes...
.