Jonathan Stiles in Heather Malloy's Le Suil Go performed at the Festival
Presenting over sixty free shows annually on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the North Carolina School of the Arts Summer Performance Festival, funded by the State of North Carolina, is produced, performed and directed by students, alumni, faculty and staff of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA). The family-friendly festival offers drama, music, dance and film performances for six consecutive weeks, late June to early August, at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo, North Carolina. Since its inception in 1997, the summer festival has become an important cultural resource to residents and visitors of North Carolina and an enriching educational and training experience for emerging and professional artists of UNCSA. In 2007, the festival audience grew to a record attendance of over 11,000.
Evening festival events are staged at the newly renovated Outdoor Pavilion on the banks of Shallowbag Bay while afternoon events are staged indoors at the Film Theater. Both venues are at Roanoke Island Festival Park just across the bridge from the seaside town of Manteo. As of 2005, the festival's rain policy changed. In inclement weather, all outdoor shows now move to the Film Theater replacing the previous cancellation policy.
For evening shows, patrons are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs as no permanent seats are available on the lawn. Many families and groups come early to enjoy a picnic at the park before the shows. All shows are free and appropriate for all ages. Casual attire is encouraged. Even pets and pajamas are welcome.
Performance series
In recent years, the festival has expanded its calendar of events to include additional programs for families. In 2006, UNCSA's School of Drama produced its first family musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and a new Saturday Night at the Movies series. First produced in 2007, the Rock the Boat! series invites families to relax on the charming Manteo waterfront while UNCSA's conservatory-trained musicians perform aboard the Elizabeth II. In 2008, a newly created Classics for Kids series presents an hour of kid-focused music every Thursday afternoon and gives children an opportunity to interact with the musicians and their instruments. In addition, the films on Saturday nights move from the Film Theater to the big outdoor screen.
Outdoor Pavilion Series
Feature presentations vary each summer. Shows are at 8 pm at the Outdoor Pavilion for four consecutive nights, Tuesday through Friday. Traditionally, each week of the season presents a different program presented by the Schools of Drama, Music, Dance or Film. In recent years the UNCSA School of Drama has expanded its presentations to include a Shakespeare comedy, a family musical and a cabaret performed in repertoire during three weeks of the festival. The School of Music presentations may include concerts by the UNCSA orchestra or by UNCSA ensembles for jazz, ragtime, percussion, woodwinds or brass. The School of Dance presents a program of classical and contemporary dance often featuring new and juried works by UNCSA alumni. The School of Filmmaking presents films on Saturday nights selected for a family audience. All shows are designed and produced by the faculty and students from UNCSA's School of Design and Production.
Afternoon Classics Series
Casual classical concerts are offered on Tuesday and Friday afternoons at 2 pm in the Film Theater. Programs vary daily and weekly. Music for guitars, saxophones, vocalists, woodwinds, strings, brass, or percussion may be featured with repertoire ranging from jazz to classical by American and international composers.
Wild Wednesday! Series
Excerpts from the 8 pm feature performances may be heard every Wednesday at 2 pm in the Film Theater. Audiences are encouraged to meet the performers and ask questions about life as a student at UNCSA.
Rock the Boat! Series
On Wednesdays at 7 pm, musicians aboard the Elizabeth II perform a 30-minute concert to boaters, pedestrians and diners on the [Manteo] waterfront.
Classics for Kids Series
On Thursdays at 2 pm, musicians present programs designed especially for kids in the Film Theater. Kids are invited to participate and interact with the performers.
Saturday Night at the Movies Film Series
The School of Filmmaking selects films for a family audience ranging from classic Charlie Chaplin films to contemporary animation. Films are shown at 8 pm on the big outdoor screen at Roanoke Island Festival Park's Outdoor Pavilion.
Fourth of July celebration
Now an Outer Banks tradition, Roanoke Island Festival Park, the Town of Manteo and UNCSA honors America's independence with an evening of patriotic music and dazzling fireworks. Music begins at 8 pm and continues during the fireworks beginning at dark. Families and groups are encouraged to come early to picnic at the park.
CAP for kids
Introduced in 2007, the festival offers a program to encourage young patrons to attend shows for performing artists. Kids can become a Community Arts Patron or CAP by attending at three least shows. CAP punch cards are available at each performance and may be redeemed for prizes when children present their CAP card at their third show.
Festival alumni
Festival performers often make headlines soon after they perform in Manteo. In addition to playing in orchestras and on stages worldwide, recent alumni have won the Metropolitan Opera's National Finalist award, performed on Broadway, played in the Grammy orchestra, acted in films and TV series and joined professional dance companies like Limon, Pilobolus, and American Ballet Theatre.
Roanoke Island is an island in Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was named after the historical Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the area in the 16th century at the time of English colonization.
Manteo is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States, located on Roanoke Island. The population was 1,602 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Dare County.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. It was named in 1964 as a memorial to assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Opened on September 8, 1971, the center hosts many different genres of performance art, such as theater, dance, orchestras, jazz, pop, psychedelic, and folk music.
The Music Center is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Roy and Edna Disney / CalArts Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants a high school diploma, in addition to both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governor Terry Sanford, it was the first public arts conservatory in the United States. The school owns and operates the Stevens Center in Downtown Winston-Salem and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Unto These Hills is an outdoor historical drama during summers at the 2,800-seat Mountainside Theatre in Cherokee, North Carolina. It is the third oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States, after The Lost Colony in Manteo in eastern North Carolina and The Ramona Pageant in Southern California. The first version of the play was written by Kermit Hunter and opened on July 1, 1950, to wide acclaim.
Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic under Walter Damrosch on June 17, 1905, with the Chicago Tribune praising its "musical entertainment so satisfying in quality and so delightful in environment." It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) since 1936. Located in the Ravinia neighborhood, the venue operates on the grounds of the 36-acre (15 ha) Ravinia Park, with a variety of outdoor and indoor performing arts facilities, including the architectural prairie style Martin Theater. The Ravinia Festival attracts about 600,000 listeners to some 120 to 150 events that span all genres from classical music to jazz to music theater over each three-month summer season.
Pine Knob Music Theatre is an outdoor amphitheater located in Independence Township, Michigan, approximately 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Detroit. Built by the Nederlander Organization in the early 1970s, it is known as "Pine Knob Music Theatre" due to its proximity to the nearby Pine Knob ski area and golf course.
Roanoke Island Festival Park is a North Carolina state historic site located at the end of NC 400 in Manteo, North Carolina on Roanoke Island. The park includes a recreated 16th-century sailing ship, living history demonstrators, a museum, and a variety of performing and visual arts. Admission includes the main attractions and is valid for two days.
The Lost Colony is an historical outdoor drama, written by American Paul Green and produced since 1937 in Manteo, North Carolina. It is based on accounts of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempts in the 16th century to establish a permanent settlement on Roanoke Island, then part of the Colony of Virginia. The play has been performed in an outdoor amphitheater located on the site of the original Roanoke Colony in the Outer Banks. More than four million people have seen it since 1937. It received a special Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre award in 2013.
The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance is a 1,499-seat theater for the performing arts located along the northern edge of Millennium Park on Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, US. The theater, which is largely underground due to Grant Park-related height restrictions, was named for its primary benefactors, Joan and Irving Harris. It serves as the park's indoor performing venue, a complement to Jay Pritzker Pavilion, which hosts the park's outdoor performances.
Wing-It Productions, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company based in Seattle, Washington, United States which exclusively produces improvised theater. Wing-It operates from their theater located at 55th Avenue and University Way NE in Seattle's U-District. The organization is primarily known as its main brand, Jet City Improv.
The Grant Park Music Festival is a ten-week classical music concert series held annually in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It features the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Chorus along with guest performers and conductors, and claims to be the only free outdoor classical-music concert series in the US. The Festival is a non-profit organization. The Festival has been a Chicago tradition since 1931, when mayor Anton Cermak suggested free concerts to lift spirits of Chicagoans during the Great Depression. The tradition of symphonic Grant Park Music Festival concerts began in 1935.
Appel Farm Arts & Music Center, located near Elmer, New Jersey, United States, is a multifaceted nonprofit regional arts center founded by musicians and art educators Albert and Clare Rostan Appel. Appel Farm Arts & Music Center is South Jersey's leading Arts Education organization. The center was founded in 1960 as a summer camp, became incorporated in 1978 and has since expanded its programming to include on-site arts retreats, arts classes, outreach in the schools, professional development for teachers, and the South Jersey Arts Fest.
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The Afisha Picnic was a one-day outdoor festival held in Moscow, Russia, every summer. It takes place on the territory of Kolomenskoye, a former tsar's estate, now a state-owned historical, architectural and nature reserve museum, located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-east of the city center. Since its start in 2004, the Afisha Picnic has followed the concept that mixes professional music festival featuring performances of international artists and local independent musicians, and urban-style event with all sorts of entertainment, such as designers’ market, gastronomic area, games and crafts, sports and amusements, lectures and workshops, and, on one occasion, even a dance floor on the rollerdrome. The festival is visited by 50,000 visitors that spread out over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land.
Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This concept has been adapted by many theatre companies, and over time, this name has expanded to encompass outdoor theatre productions of the playwright's works performed all over the world.
Isla Vista Arts is an organization at the University of California, Santa Barbara with the goal of promoting art and culture in the small, neighboring community of Isla Vista, California. It is affiliated with the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center and Associated Students. Isla Vista Arts provides free and low-cost entertainment to college students and community members.
Brave Festival – Against Cultural Exile is an annual Polish music festival launched in 2005 by Song of the Goat Theatre Association. It takes place in Wroclaw, as well as in other cities in Lower Silesia. Since inception, artists from all over the world have been invited to present their musical/cultural traditions. The festival is intended as an opportunity for attendees to speak about where they come from, their values, their traditions and their spirituality. It aims to save and protect forgotten, abandoned and forlorn cultures. Brave Festival also has a project called Brave Kids, which aims is to introduce, integrate and start a collaboration of artistic groups of childs from different continents. Grzegorz Bral is the director of Brave Festival.
The Chicago Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois, governed by the Chicago Philharmonic Society. Founded in 1988 by principals of the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago, it is a musician-governed, non-profit organization consisting of nearly 200 classical music performers from the Chicago area. Since 2013, the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor has been Scott Speck.
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