Lineup announced for FestivALL Charleston

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — FestivALL Charleston organizers announced their 2015 lineup for the 11th annual summer festival scheduled for June 19-28.

FestivALL offers 130 events and 360 performances over the course of 10 days in Charleston.

This year, FestivALL will offer a variety of events with fresh ideas. They will also bring back popular events from previous summers.

Brittany Javins, co-director of FestivALL, said they held a West Virginia writers round table last year, so they are building on that this year by adding poets.

Javins said they are excited to build on favorite events. She said the Capitol Street Art Fair was the largest she saw last year with over 90 artists. They are expecting the same amount of artists this year, but have 20 new artists who will be joining them.

“That’s exciting to be able to go back to an art fair every year and see some rotation within what is available there. It keeps something like that fresh,” said Javins.

Javins said there are many events that are long standing, but they always keep them fresh with new talent. She said the Dance Gala will feature the Chicago Tap Theater, the Charleston Ballet, and the River City Youth Ballet Ensemble.

“One thing that is unique about the Chicago Tap Theater is that they are a tap group, but they also blend a lot of genres of dance within their tap, so I think a lot of audiences will like that,” said Javins.

Javins said they try to build on their successes each year. Some events have become a part of the annual schedule such as the Moses Automotive Live on the Levee on June 19, the West Side Main Street Wiener Dog Races on June 20 and the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social on June 21.

Some other popular events include the Mayor’s Concert at the Clay Center featuring the New Orleans’ soulful, jazz groups Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue on June 25, Taste-of-All at the Charleston Civic Center June 21, Wine and All That Jazz at the University of Charleston June 27, and the second year of Festiv-ALT free concert on June 20, with performers to be announced.

The River Queen from Cincinnati will also be back this year to offer 90 minute cruises on the Kanawha River from June 24-27. The service will then turn into the the popular “River Taxi” June 26, that will travel between the events.

“It’s a nice way to connect everything that’s going on because FestivALL is very spread out throughout the city,” said Javins.

Javins said they try to make all FestivALL events affordable to the public. She said they have “big name” performers in the $20 range, sometimes more or less depending on the event.

For ticket information and a full list of scheduled events, visit FestivALL’s website at www.festivallcharleston.com.





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