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Let’s Dance: Sierra Nevada Ballet Company members perform at the 2009 Artown. |
CommentsArtown Celebrates 15th Year
Through Saturday, July 31, Reno
Published: July 19, 2010
The birth of Artown in 1996 was a leap forward for Reno’s arts community. Now considered one of the nation’s most comprehensive arts festivals and a recipient of numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Artown celebrates its 15th year July 1 to 31, bringing arts to downtown Reno and beyond with theater, dance, music, visual arts, multicultural events, workshops, and more.
When the event was founded in 1996, Artown featured 101 arts events in two dozen venues over 21 days. By 2009, the festival had grown to a month-long event featuring 400 events and attracting more than three times the attendees than the inaugural festival. Now approximately 300,000 people head to Artown events each year and it’s estimated that the festival has generated nearly $100 million for the Reno area over the past 15 years.
Centered around downtown Reno’s Wingfield Park amphitheater stage, this year’s festival includes a World Music Series on Wednesday nights with acts like the American folk-Jewish group Moshav, the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, and Kailash Kher, an Indian pop singer. There are also children’s workshops, summer art camps, and a free Family Series on Monday nights.
Artown has expanded beyond downtown Reno to include seven other mini-festivals, such as the American Festival in Virginia City and Hirishfest at Sky Tavern Ski Area, as well as the Speak Your Mind Hip Hop Art Festival and Gospel Fest, both at Wingfield Park.
Of the festival’s nearly 400 events, 63 percent are free. This year, Artown launched the “Give $3, Keep Artown Free” campaign so the nonprofit organization can continue to present the high-caliber free programming attendees have come to expect.
New this year is also a free iPhone application that includes a complete festival calendar with a search function, event details with web links, lodging information, blog entries, and Twitter feeds. Versions for BlackBerry and Android devices are also available.
Info: Artown runs throughout July, in various Reno locations, renoisartown.com, (775) 322-1538
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