1st Ever Neighborhood Arts Festival
1st Ever Neighborhood Arts Festival
Come Out to Lincoln Park in Olean, NY and Celebrate Local Artists
If you’re looking for a family-friendly evening of art, entertainment, good food, and fun, you won’t want to miss the first-ever Neighborhood Arts Festival on Saturday, August 12th in Olean’s Lincoln Park. In collaboration with the Tri-County Arts Council, Beat City Music, and the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce, this brand-new event features art in all forms: dance, music, visual arts, delicious food and more. The festival is the perfect time to discover opportunities to explore one’s creative side and experience first-hand what many of these long-standing businesses and organizations have been doing in the community for several years!
The idea for a local arts festival began last winter with Kyleigh Peterson, director of the Neighborhood School of Dance, the longest-running dance studio in Olean. “We wanted to do something in the summer to keep our dancers dancing,” she explained. “It started with the idea for an outdoor performance. Olean doesn’t have a ‘taste of’ event like something with food, drink or art, so we decided to put on our own! We talked to the Tri-County Arts Council and Beat City Music and asked if they’d want to be on board, and they did!”
Beat City Music, located at 217 N. Union Street, will be providing sound services and music for the event, said co-owner Dylan Snyder. In addition to playing recorded music for the dancers, his eclectic five-piece rock band, the Sticktights, will be performing live throughout the evening. As Olean’s local music shop, Beat City Music offers a wide variety of instruments to purchase or rent; services include instrument repair and music lessons. “We also just opened up a recording studio,” Snyder said. Those who are interested in music lessons or trying an instrument can get more information about Beat City Music at the Neighborhood Arts Festival or visit www.beatcitymusicinc.com.
Snyder and co-owner Colleen Gaynor are looking forward to being involved in this event. “We think it’s good that these local businesses collaborate with each other,” said Snyder. “We’ve met them through the Laine Business Accelerator (an Olean-based program that supports entrepreneurs). We met with these business owners every week and really got to know each other and share our challenges and successes. We think it’s the best thing for the community for businesses to work with each other through an event like this.”
Presale tickets for the Neighborhood Arts Festival are $15 and include food tastings and a free beverage (for adults); children’s tickets include free arts and crafts and face paints. Food and drink include many delicious options from local food trucks such as The Hungry Burro (burritos, tacos, nachos, and bowls), Sweet Ride Mini Donuts, Four Mile Brewing and more. Neighborhood School of Dance students are excited to share their talents with festival goers and will be performing a variety of styles from contemporary to hip hop. In addition to music and dance, the festival highlights visual art and will include artwork for sale by the Tri-County Arts Council’s talented member artists.
The festival is the perfect time to learn more about the dance school, which has been in business since 1976. With more than 60 students enrolled from eighteen months old to adults, there’s a class for everyone, regardless of experience. “Dance is an art and a sport,” noted Peterson. “I started dancing when I was in sixth grade, which was the first year that Brittany Thierman took over as owner. She’s been dancing here since she was five years old!” Prospective students can discover a lifelong love of dance, too, at one of NSD’s upcoming events: free dance day on August 22nd and back-to-dance night on August 29th. Learn more at www.nsdolean.com.
Presale tickets ($15) are available online now at https://tinyurl.com/c7pk9v32. At the event, tickets will be $18. Keep up with the latest news and updates on the festival by following the event on social media at https://fb.me/e/1l7QXlYgW or following Neighborhood School of Dance. For more information, contact Peterson at kyleigh.nsd@gmail.com.