UNC Asheville’s second annual Arts Fest, including musical and theatrical performances, exhibits, creative workshops and more, will be held April 8 – 11 across campus with free and ticketed events.
Drama students will kick-off the festival, presentingAlmost, Maine, a whimsical romantic comedy featuring nine interlocking love stories that has become one of the most frequently produced plays of the last decade. TheNew York Post described the play as “Thornton Wilder crossed with The Twilight Zone.” Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8; 10 a.m. on Friday, April 10; and an extra performance at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 12. The performances are in the university’s Carol Belk Theatre and are free and open to the public.
Master drummer and djembe player Bolokada Conde will perform at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 10 in Lipinsky Auditorium, joined by UNC Asheville’s African Drum Ensemble and local drummers and dancers. Conde, a young musical prodigy who became a UNC Asheville’s African Drum Ensemblesensation in the Sankaran region of Guinea, West Africa, is now considered one of the world’s foremost djembefolas. He has performed in major venues all over the world and conducted percussion workshops all over the United States and Europe. Tickets are $6 and may be purchased at cesap.unca.edu.
Arts Fest will culminate with the Festival on the Quad from noon – 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, followed by the UNC Asheville Dance Concert. Various music and dance performances take the main stage near Ramsey Library, and visiting Cherokee artists will display and demonstrate traditional Native arts, while student organizations sell food and crafts. From 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Alliance Crossroads will conduct an interactive adventure, combining improvisational theater and swashbuckling escapades in an immersive group experience. The dance concert at 7:30 p.m. will be held in Lipinsky Auditorium. Tickets are $5 at the door.
Other Arts Fest events include a poetry slam, altered books exhibit, Chinese calligraphy workshop, Indian Classical dance performance and workshop, new media student project showcase, Art Front’s 48th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition and more. For the full schedule and details, visit the Arts Fest website.