Charleston FestivALL 2009: A City Becomes A Work Of Art

The preliminary lineup of events for Charleston FestivALL 2009 was announced today. Ten days of music, art, theater, entertainment, creativity and fun bring the city of Charleston alive from June 19 - 27, 2009. Where the city become a work of art!

As many of my friends, colleagues and regular readers know I love the Charleston FestivALL (my past posts) and am already excited about this years expanded ten day event. The event highlights why I love West Virginia and its creative powers and people. To experience a visual understanding of this feeling check out FestivALL from 2006-2009 through the eye of Rick Lee.

The image above will be a part of the official FestivALL 2009 poster. This year's poster, conceived and designed by Alex Morgado, is a symbol of the FestivALL idea. Local artists have contributed designs for letters. At the opening ceremonies, each letter will be taken to a different part of the city where it will be displayed during the ten days of FestivALL. At the end, they will be gathered and displayed together.

Check out the schedule of events (and pre-festival events) by FestivALL Executive Director, Larry Groce. Also, the lineup was announced in today's Charleston Gazette. Last year there were 83 different events featuring 169 performances, exhibitions and presentations by 378 companies, troupes and individual artists.

UPDATE (5/12/2009): FestivALL has launched its new web site which includes a full 2009 schedule. The web site has a cool and creative roll over of the artwork, "A City Becomes A Work Of Art." Check it out.

Mountain Stage: The Gold at the End of the Rainbow

A memorable 2008 FestivALL ended last evening with a great Mountain Stage performance at the Clay Center. One of the best all around performances I can remember in recent past.

A storm rolled through Charleston about 15 minutes before the performance and I captured the following photos. Coincidence or not? Well the pot of gold at the end of FestivALL was the "Gold" Mountain Rebels.


Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels were excellent as expected as the headliner. The Gold Mountain Rebels had a smooth tight sound that mixed well with Dylan's voice and lyrics. I really enjoyed the performances by singer songwriters, Andy Davis from Nashville and Priscilla Ahn from LA. Great new performers who I was first introduced to at the show and plan to hear more from. Krista Detor and Hayes Carll rounded out the evening with solid performances. For another perspective, check out Roger Lilly's review of the evening at the Charleston Gazette.

Still More FestivALL: Blues & Brews kicks off weekend events

Sorry for a lack of substantive health care posting the last couple of weeks. The result of being just too busy with client legal matters.

This morning I was catching up on my RSS feeds and saw these great photos by Rick Lee (photo to right by Rick of Sonny Landreth) from last nights Blues, Brews & BBQ. Looks like everyone had a great time. We sat on the porch last night after the kids went to bed and caught some of the great music.

Today Capitol Street comes alive with artists, performers, etc. Don't miss the fun. Looking forward to watching Jesse & James, Monkeys in the House, Expert Liar Bil Lepp, a variety of music and much more. Later in the day Michael Feldman's Whad'ya Know (Feldman visits Power Park) will be in town and tonight University of Charleston plays host to Wine & Jazz.

Tomorrow Mountain Stage caps off the weeklong FestivALL wich a great show including Jakob Dylan and the Gold Mountain Rebels, Hayes Carll, Andy Davis, Krista Detor and Priscilla Ahn. My wonderful wife surprised me with tickets - can't wait to see the show.

If you Twitter follow all the action aqt @FestivALL. In the words of Larry Groce, Mountain Stage host and FestivALL organizer, "Go out and see some live music [and arts] this weekend."

FestivALL: West Virginia Wiener Dogs Run . . .

The Charleston Gazette's front page shot and story of the FestivALL wiener dog races, "and the wiener is . . ."

The photo features one of the winners, "Saugy Bottom Boy" who looks like a real thoroughbred. Our kids along with some of their friends are in the background.

Week long FestivALL kicked into high gear yesterday with events throughout Charleston. Downtown was busy with Smoke on the Water and the West Side was packed at the wiener dog races. If you twitter - pick up the latest @festivall.

My family and I spent a great day taking in the events. We started out the day dressing up and being photographic models for K.D. Lett's visual arts piece that he is working on as a part of FestivALL. He is taking photos of individuals, groups and families at the Charleston Ballet Building on Virginia Street. Then it was off to the wiener dog races. After that we swung by Ellen's Ice Cream for some "drive by" ice cream and it was off to the West Virginia Cultural Center Theater to catch the amazing work of the Squonk Opera group who performed a custom creation about "Charleston".

Health Care Goes FestivALL

As my regular readers know - the Health Care Law Blog gets fishy every year when Charleston's FestivALL rolls around. Sorry for the distraction from health care law but I like to promote my favorite summertime event in Charleston - FestivALL.

Just read over at Oncee that the Unknown Hinson will bring his country western psychobilly to Charleston for FestivALL on June 22 at Coonskin Park. If you don't know who he is check out the UNtold Story. Have read about him but never listened to his music until now. Watch him on YouTube.

Skip, looks like this might move into my top three 2008 FestivALL events to not miss.

By the way, anyone else notice the other art project going on around town? Have you noticed the red/white signs in spanish/english? I was wondering what was up and saw a mention at This is not my blog. Check out more about Amy Williams art project over at Scrabble Crush.

FestivALL: Drivers Can Enjoy Interstate 64/77/79 Split Artwork

Signs of FestivALL are starting to appear. For those of you traveling along the 64/77/79 split don't miss the artwork of Charles"Todd" Thomas whose colorful 10x24 foot creation was chosen as the winner of the art contest sponsored by Allied Artist of West Virginia to help promote this year's FestivALL.



The artwork is being displayed on the Mountaineer Expedite Building (formerly Purity Baking Building).

Allied Artists along with Tamarack will also be sponsoring the FestivAll Capitol Street Art Fair. It's free for the public and set for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 28 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 29. More than 100 spaces are set aside for artists to show and sell their works in a variety of media.

Visiting Capital Street for FestivALL is a must. There is a variety of activities for adults and kids with constant performers on a variety of stages and a street fair in front of the Kanawha County library.

Charleston FestivALL 2008: A City Becomes A Work Of Art

FestivALL 2008 is coming soon and the sights and sounds are set to hit the streets of Charleston on June 20-29.

This week's theme over at Picture West Virginia (a project by Brian Stealey to get people thinking creatively about West Virginia) is sounds - so it prompted me to write my first post promoting this year's FestivALL. A great place to catch a variety of artistic sounds. Check out any of the links in the summary of events for a taste of the "sounds."

What is FestivALL? FestivALL has become the Charleston's centerpiece arts and summertime entertainment event with a wide array of theater, dance, music and visual arts.

Check out photos from last years event and these video cuts (Part 1 and Part 2) from YouTube by Rudy Panucci's PopCult. Also check out my past posts from 2006 and 2007 here, here, here and here.

If you've never attended look over the schedule of events and pick at least a few to attend. Show your support for FestivALL!

Below is a summary of the major events for the weeklong event (check out the full schedule of events for more):

June 20- WV Day Live on the Levee, music, food, by the river
June 21- 10th Anniversary of Smoke on the Water- Charleston Chili Cook-Off
June 21- Charleston- The Opera (It’s not an Opera, but it will have great music)
June 22- The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra (Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and more)
June 25- Savion Glover in his new show, Bare Soundz
June 26- Mayor's Concert: Gladys Knight
June 27- Blues, Brews & BBQ featuring Shemekia Copeland and Sonny Landreth
June 28-29- The Capitol Street Art Fair
June 28- Whad'Ya Know with Michael Feldman
June 28- Wine & All That Jazz featuring The Ellis Marsalis Quartet
June 29- Mountain Stage, WV Public Radio’s internationally distributed live radio show featuring: Hayes Carll, Jakob Dylan & the Gold Mountain Rebels, Krista Detor, Andy Davis and Priscilla Ahn. (catch out more Mountain Stage at this recent post at Picture West Virginia)

At a special edition of Live on the Levee, we will celebrate West Virginia Day with West Virginia music, food and drink at Haddad Riverfront Park. (Free)

Smoke on the Water, Charleston’s Chili Cook Off on June 21 invites chili cooks from around the nation for hospitality and competition they will get no where else on earth. It’s the 10th Anniversary of this fundraiser for HospiceCare.

Charleston-The Opera, presented by Dixon Hughes at the Cultural Center Theater, Saturday June 21, is a multi-media production of Pittsburgh’s Squonk Opera. They will visit our city twice to gather information, interview residents and recruit local talent to join them in the production they will create. It weaves hometown documentation with Squonk’s aural and visual trickery and will be a “heartfelt toast and a punk-vaudevillian roast” of our fair city. (Matinee and evening performances, all tickets $25)

On Sunday, June 22, The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra will perform a chamber concert at The Clay Center featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and other mid-summer delights. (Ticket prices TBA)

On Wednesday, June 25, at the Clay Center, FestivALL and The Clay Center will present Savion Glover in Bare Soundzs, a tour de force dance performance by the “greatest tap dancer in the world”. A child star of Sesame Street and co-star with Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines in the 1989 movie, Tap, Mr. Glover came into his own in 1996 in the Broadway smash hit production Bring in ‘da Noise/Bring in ‘da Funk. He has gone on to create his own dance projects and to star as the motion-capture dancer of Mumble the Penguin in the animated movie Happy Feet. Last fall he appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars performing excerpts from this production. (Tickets $35/25/15)

The Mayor’s Concert on Thursday, June 26, at the Clay Center, will feature the dynamic voice of Gladys Knight. Ms. Knight’s stellar career started with Motown records in the late sixties. She has continued to delight millions of fans around the world with her unique Soul, R&B, Pop and Gospel music sounds. She won her first two (of seven) Grammy Awards in 1973 (R&B, Pop) and her latest in 2005 (Gospel). This concert is made possible by the generous support if Mayor Danny Jones and Pritchard Mining. (Tickets $55/45/30)

Fund for the Arts has announced the talent for it’s annual events, Blues, Brews & BBQ and Wine & All That Jazz, both of which take place by the river on the lawn of The University of Charleston. (Ticket prices TBA)

On Friday, June 27, Blues, Brews & BBQ will feature Shemekia Copeland and Sonny Landreth. Daughter of blues legend Johnny Clyde Copeland, Ms. Copeland has won a mantel full of blues awards and is one of the hottest young blues talents in the country. Cajun slide guitar wizard Landreth began his career with Zydeco king Cifton Chenier and has electrified audiences for over two decades. Local and regional talent will also be featured.

On Saturday, June 28, the patriarch of New Orlean’s first family of jazz, pianist Ellis Marsalis, performs at Wine & All That Jazz with The Ellis Marsalis Quartet. The father of Wynton and Branford, Mr. Marsalis plays regularly in the Crescent City, tours occasionally and continues to be a major force in the world of jazz. Local and regional talent will also be featured.

On Saturday, June 28, West Virginia Public Broadcasting will host the very popular live radio show, Whad’Ya Know with Michael Feldman. Mr. Feldman’s wit and humor attract millions of listeners each week on public radio stations nationwide. (Ticket prices TBA)

The Capitol Street Arts Fair will expand its hours and number of artisans represented on Saturday and Sunday, June 28-29. Partnering with Tamarack and Allied Artists, the Fair will bring in over one hundred high quality artisans showing, selling and, in some cases, demonstrating their work. (Free)

We will conclude with Mountain Stage, the internationally distributed WV Public Radio live music performance show on Sunday, June 29. (Ticket prices and talent TBA)

Among the artisans’ tents of the expanded Capitol Street Art Fair, June 29 –29, will be small “street stages” that will feature many different flavors of music and dance. There will also be a variety of street performers: magicians, stilt walkers, strolling musicians, mime/clowns, etc.

The Kanawha County Library Street Fair, focusing on kids and families, will run for two days this year (June 28 and 29). The West Side Ice Cream Social and Wiener Dog Races (June 21 and 22) will move to our first weekend and also expand. (as a bonus you also get Phil Phister, friend and World's Strongest Man). Both events feature stages with family friendly entertainment. At the Library Fair there will be a tent with local dulcimer players who will invite kids to join in and watch for an announcement about an incredible “balloon artist”. Both are free events.

The Commercial Insurance Stage at Davis Park will have free music both weekends. On the first weekend (June 21) will be a memorial to the late Winston Walls, a great Charleston Jazz/Blues B-3 organ player. The music will be blues, jazz and related music styles. The next week (28 and 29) it will be a memorial to the late Derek Kirk, a young Charleston musician who died last year and played in several jazz and fusion bands, and the featured music will be those flavors. Free country and bluegrass music will return to the Capitol Market on both weekends.

There will once again be free site-specific dance and theater. “A Streetcar Named Despair”, performed on a trolley bus, will return and there will be a new “Location, Location, Location” play with an Elvis theme (the King once stayed in Charleston’s old Daniel Boone Hotel). The One Act Play Festival will be back featuring theater companies from around the state (ticket prices TBA) as will a Charleston Light Opera Guild production (show and ticket prices TBA).

Fun At FestivALL . . .

We spent yesterday at FestivALL and Rick Lee captured some great shots on Capitol Street. More fun today!

Thanks to Rick for capturing a shot of me and my daughter during Drew the Dramatic Fool.










This morning we made a second trip over to see Julian Beever's Charleston artwork to get some shots. The last one is of a couple who got on after us and had a lot of fun riding West Virginia's white water.

FestiVALL: Pavement Drawings By Julian Beever

Rick Lee beat me to the punchpost. Last week I read where Julian Beever, 3-D pavement/chalk artist from Belgium will be coming to FestiVALL 2007 in Charleston.

Last Thursday's Charleston Gazz featured photos of some of his work. I'm excited to see what he comes up with while working the streets of Charleston. (Hmmm . . . is this what he is planning). I'll try to get photos of his work and post them. Scan some of his past work courtesy of Google Image Search.

For more about this weeks FestiVALL check out my past post or the new FestiVALL 2007 Interactive Map, courtesy of the Charleston Gazette.

UPDATE (6/21/07): Below is a photo from the front page of today's Charleston Gazette showing the partial completion of Julian Beever's West Virginia FestiVALL work. Check out the article.


UPDATE (6/22/07): Last night Julian Beever completed his artwork for Charleston. Amazing. More photos courtesy of Charleston photo bloggers Rick Lee and Tom Hindman (more photos by Tom here and here). Photo below courtesy of Rick Lee.