Thank you to everyone who attended the 2009 Festival of Arts & Ideas. We hope you had as much fun watching it as we did putting it together. See you next year!

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June 29, 2009

Thank you all for being with us over the past two weeks and for filling this Festival with tremendous energy and joy. You, our audience and friends, made it a great Festival by being curious, engaged and intrepid.

During what was perceived to be a rainy period in an economic downturn, we had a record number of people visiting this website and attending our free events on the New Haven Green, capacity audiences at Ideas events and tours, and the Festival’s ticketed events exceeded the sales figures from the past two years. We really can’t ask for more. 

The Festival also received extensive media attention with reviews, interviews and articles including the New York Times, Time Out New York, American Theatre Magazine, Variety, Dance Magazine, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Connecticut Magazine, Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, New Haven Advocate, and New Haven Independent; and on WTNH, WQUN, WMRD, WEBE, WICC, WSHU, and WNPR.

Thanks for making Festival 14 such a success!

Best,

Mary Lou Aleskie
Executive Director

P.S. If you are not already signed up on the Festival e-mail list, click here to receive news about featured video broadcasts and other special offers starting on July 1!

The Celebration of Connecticut Bands brought together five unique, talented musical acts to the New Haven Green. From 13- year old’s to Connecticut State Representatives, the evening of June 21st was filled with rocking tunes and dancing beats.

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After two weeks of lectures, concerts and performances, the festival has come to an end. We ended with a bash including performances by Bio Ritmo and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. The New Haven green was packed with people dancing and singing all throughout the night. Everybody came together to see off the festival after another great year.

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The Noon and Night concerts continued during the second week of the festival, and the performances were just as good as the first week’s. Enjoy part two of the infamous From Noon to Night concerts!

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For the past two weeks, the festival has hosted concerts on the Green at noon, 1:15pm and 6:30pm.  We had everything from country rock to Equadorian folk dancing, mime and storytelling, and bagpipes in the rain.   And best of all, the shows were free to the public!

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Non-stop fun was had by all who attended and participated in last weekend’s Village of Villages. From arts and crafts, to various rock bands, dancers, and everything in between, the green was filled with performances put on by the festival, covering every square foot of the upper green. People of all ages could be seen dancing, chatting, and exploring everything from our various stages to box city, where young children created their own version of the future of New Haven.

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