Festival Fever: Art on Lark @ Lark Street, 6/26/10
Can’t wait til September for the annual LarkFest? Well, you don’t to. This Saturday, Lark Street will be shut down to traffic once again for the annual Art on Lark celebration.
Over the years, Art on Lark has grown from a small art festival with a few roving unamplified musicians into a full-scale street fair with two big stages – one at either end of the Lark Street corridor (Washington Ave. and Madison Ave.) with continuous music all day long.
Art on Lark has been traditionally held in early June, but this year the fest has been pushed back on the calendar to this coming Saturday, which unfortunately puts it in direct competition with two of the biggest, long-standing Nippertown music fests – the Old Songs Festival in Altamont and the Freihofer’s Jazz Festival at SPAC in Saratoga Springs.
Public radio station WEXT-FM has come on board to co-sponsor Art on Lark with the Lark Street Business Improvement District. The festival takes place from 10am-5pm on Saturday, and admission is, of course, free.
Here’s the schedule of performances for Saturday’s Art on Lark festivities:
THE WASHINGTON AVENUE STAGE
10am: Musicians of Ma’alwyck
11am: Albany Poets
12noon: Matthew Carefully
1pm: The Lark Divas Drag Show
2:15pm: Ethan & Atlas (break dancing)
3pm: The Lark-Ternative Hair Show & Competition
4:15pm: Ethan & Atlas (break dancing)
THE MADISON AVENUE STAGE
10am: Ashley Pond
11am: Palatypus
12noon: John Scarpulla
1pm: We Are Jeneric
2pm: The Rodeo Barons
3pm: Railbird
4pm: Super 400
PREVIOUS FESTIVAL FEVER ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The Old Songs Festival @ Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, 6/25-27
Beacon Riverfest @ Riverfront Park, Beacon, 6/26
Freihofer’s Jazz Festival @ SPAC, Saratoga Springs, 6/26-27
Pearl-Palooza @ Pearl St., Albany, 7/3
The WGNA Countryfest @ Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, 7/10
The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival @ Walsh Farm, Oak Hill, 7/15-18
The Green River Festival @ Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, Mass. 7/16-18
The Solid Sound Festival @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, Mass., 8/13-15
moe.down @ Gelston Castle Estate, Mohawk, 9/3-5
Lake George Jazz Weekend @ Shepard Park, Lake George, 9/18-19/10
better lineup than I thought, wow!
Please don’t schedule this event on the same weekend as the Jazz Festival. Earlier in June would reduce the competition, increase the crowd potential, and provide a great transition to summer.
There were pride events going on from June 1st through June 13th with parades and concerts in and around Washington Park, the Lark Street Neighborhood and Downtown Albany. It’s nearly impossible not to conflict with other summer events in June.