Annual Festival Celebrates the Arts in New Rochelle and Pelham
ArtsFest returns on October 19-21 with a full calendar of art events and activities. The weekend-long festival, organized by New Rochelle Council on the Arts, will highlight more than thirty arts venues in the towns of New Rochelle and Pelham. The celebration kicks off with a Friday night “Arts in Oktoberfest Gallery Hop” on October 19, during which select galleries will invite guests to view exhibitions and sample beer and cider.
The festival continues throughout the weekend with live performances and interactive activities, as well as studio tours with artists such as 3D sculpture artist Charles Fazzino, painter Marie Hines Cowan and collage artist Martha Valenzuela. In addition, the New Rochelle BID Grand Market and the seventh annual Lincoln Avenue Arts and Culture Fest offer family-friendly arts activities, food and music. New additions to the festival include an Artisan Craft Market at Ottavio’s Woodworking, a Saturday performance of The Sleeping Beauty by Ajkun Ballet at the New Rochelle Public Library (NRPL), and music, magic and face painting at Wolf’s Lane Park in Pelham. Art exhibitions on view include A Shift in Focus at Iona College, and New Rochelle Art Association’s 103rd Annual Juried Exhibition at NRPL. Other participating venues include Huguenot Children’s Library, Pelham Art Center and more.
On Sunday, ArtsFest will culminate with a lineup of fun arts happenings. A spoken word event at the NRPL will present live readings of holiday-themed stories by the group Read650, during which a dozen Westchester writers will read aloud their true stories, each limited to 650 words. A “Classical and Beyond” concert will also take place on Sunday, hosted by the College of New Rochelle (CNR). This live performance features Angels in the Chamber, the CNR Choir, staff performances and “chamber punk” by IMPetus.
Visitors are encouraged to explore all of the festival’s offerings via a free trolley that will provide transportation between four locations: Lawton Street, New Rochelle City Hall, New Rochelle High School and Pelham Art Center. For more info, visit: newrochellearts.org.
A version of this article first appeared in the October issue of ArtsNews, ArtsWestchester’s monthly publication. ArtsNews is distributed throughout Westchester County. A digital copy is also available at artsw.org/artsnews.
