Arts Alive, ArtsFalmouth’s annual celebration of the arts, returns tonight through Sunday, more colorful and inclusive than ever. The festival offers an abundance of free performances under two tents on the Falmouth Library Lawn, 300 Main Street, and a diverse collection of artisans and craftspeople offering their wares on Shore Street Extended and Peg Noonan Park.
There will be over 75 artisans, more than a dozen nonprofit organizations, and three food vendors at Arts Alive on Saturday from 10 AM to 6 PM and on Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM, plus fun activities for the family, including an Art Tent with creative projects, lawn games, artists on the lawn, a scavenger hunt, and more.
Thirty-five performers in two performance tents offer fiddle, folk, jazz, rhythm & blues, funk, country, rock, classical, contemporary, Cape Verdean, light opera, and original music, plus dance, spoken word performances, and more on Saturday from 10 AM to 9 PM and on Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM.
ArtsFalmouth, Inc. is collaborating with the Falmouth Public Schools, the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Cultural Center and Museum, No Place for Hate Falmouth, and other organizations and individuals to celebrate Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, and with Cape Cod Pride to celebrate Pride Month.
A highlight of the weekend is the Juneteenth Celebration at 10 AM tomorrow. The event is coordinated by Henry St. Julien, director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the Falmouth Public Schools.
Jeanne Morrison, co-president of the League of Women Voters Cape Cod Area, Amplify POC board president, and the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Education Committee, will narrate the story of the emancipation and June 19, 1865 with reenactments by State Rep. David Vieira portraying Major General Gordon Granger, the Union Army general who read Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to the enslaved residents of Galveston, and by Falmouth middle school students and community members portraying black Civil War heroes.
Pamphlets about Juneteenth and suggestions for further reading will be available.
St. Julien stressed the significance of this event for the community. “Our aim for the Juneteenth festival aligns with the words of historian Mitch Kachun, who encourages Americans ‘to celebrate, to educate, and to agitate.’
“As a community,” St. Julien continued, “it is important to recognize that the significance of Juneteenth extends far beyond a single day. It symbolizes an ongoing and unceasing pursuit of racial equality and justice for all marginalized individuals. Through proactive measures and a commitment to advocating for change, we have the power to actively contribute towards the creation of a more inclusive and equitable beloved community that encompasses everyone.”
Winners of the school-wide Juneteenth poster contest will be honored, and two student poems celebrating diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging will be read. Soulfege, the High School’s a cappella group, will sing, and Rev. Saramaria Allenby will offer closing words.
Cape Cod Pride will provide information throughout the weekend, and there will be a Tea Dance in Peg Noonan Park on Sunday, June 18, at 2 PM, with DJ Kris Kay. Tea Dances originated in New York in the 1950s and ‘60s, when it was illegal for bars in New York to sell alcohol to people known to be gay. Tea Dances on Sunday afternoons became a legally acceptable way of socializing.
Pam Washburn, president of Cape Cod Pride and a member of the ArtsFalmouth board, said, “Cape Cod Pride is PROUD to be part of Arts Alive. Our mission and goal is to create bonds with the LGBT+ community as well as the community at large, building ally relationships and providing year-round activities. Join us at the Tea Dance!”
The Art Tent will offer Juneteenth, Pride Month, and Father’s Day art projects, in addition to Origami, Zentangling, painting, paracord projects, storytelling, chalk drawing, and more.
Arts Alive begins tonight with performances by Falmouth Academy’s instrumental ensembles at 5 PM; singer/songwriter Shannon Davis at 6 PM; and the ever-popular Falmouth Town Dance from 7 to 9 PM, with music by the Moonlighters Big Band under the direction of Bob Katcher. The band plays the hits of Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Glen Miller, and many others, as well as newer pop, rock, Latin, jazz, and contemporary genres.
Candida Rose performs Saturday at 11 AM in the Performance Tent on Saturday, extending the Juneteenth theme with songs of resilience, inspiration, and love. Candida Rose mixes her Cape Verdean musical roots with American jazz, producing a mixture of jazz, rhythm & blues, and gospel that she calls KabuJazz. She will also perform Sunday at 11 AM, this time with her KabuJazz band.
Also, in the Performance Tent on Saturday are Turning Pointe Dance Studio at noon, L’Esperance Mandolin Ensemble at 1 PM, Cat’s Melodeon at 2 PM, and Khadija and Troupe Mirage with Egyptian-style belly-dancing at 3 PM.
In the Music Tent, Back in Time, an oldies band, plays at 10 AM; Morgaihne Huntress offers her original spoken word show, Allsorts: Purpose, at 11 AM. The Andrew Sexton Duo follows at noon, the Familiars of Cape Cod play at 1 PM, Rose and the Thorns at 2 PM, and singer/songwriter Dawna Hammers performs at 3 PM.
In Peg Noonan Park, singer/guitarists Rich Latimer and Jake Bautista perform at 2 and 3 PM, respectively.
In the Music Tent, the Blue Lotus Band plays rock, blues, and funk at 4 PM, and the North River Brass Quintet, all members of the Southeastern Philharmonic Orchestra, performs at 5 PM.
An evening of rock music begins at 4 PM in the Performance Tent, with the 82nd Street Band at 4 PM, The Surf Drive Band at 5 PM, Paradise Rock at 6 PM, and Puffy Elvis at 7:30 PM.
On Sunday, the Falmouth Fiddlers perform at noon, followed by the Shining Sea Strummers, a group of 30 ukulele and guitar players, at 1 PM. The Sonnay Fiddlers, about 20 young and slightly older fiddlers, perform at 2. They will be followed by about 25 members of the College Light Opera Company, the Teaticket Elementary School chorus at 3:45 PM, and Maravista Extensions a participatory drumming group, at 4:15 PM.
In the Music Tent on Sunday, the Falmouth Chamber Players offer classical music at 11 AM, followed by several solo singers: Kathleen Healy at noon; Michael Shea at 1 PM, Richard Keith at 2 PM, and Andrew Sue Wing at 4 PM. The Nice and Easy Trio offers jazz and blues for a mellow end to the weekend events.
There is much to see and do over the Arts Alive weekend. For more information and a complete schedule and list of vendors, visit https://artsfalmouth.org/arts-alive-2023/ or email info@artsfalmouth.org.
Arts Alive is made possible by grants from the Mass Cultural Council, the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the Falmouth Cultural Council, the Woods Hole Foundation, and the Cape Cod Melody Tent, as well as donations from local businesses and individuals.
Notes on The Arts 