Pittsfield celebrates Art and Industry, August Third Thursday

August Third Thursday Celebrates Art + Industry

 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:ART + INDUSTRY  AUGUST 3RD THURSDAYS STREET FESTIVAL

August 21st 3rd Thursdays Celebrates Art + Industry with Performances, Music, Activities, Demos & More!

Press Contact: Jen Glockner; office: 413-499-9348; cell: 413-449-6411; cultural@pittsfieldch.com

PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

(Pittsfield, Mass.)  Upstreet Pittsfield’s award-winning street festival, 3rd Thursdays, returns on Thursday, August 21st with the Art + Industry theme, sponsored by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.  The event celebrates the city wide Art + Industry initiative with interactive creativity, musical performances and demonstrations.

One of the main events of the evening is the 3rd Thursday Guardian Art + Industry Fun Zone with an arts and crafts station and giveaways.  There will also be a Robotics Demonstration by Mount Everett High School and Herberg Middle School hosted by Berkshire Community College and Berkshire Applied Technology Council and a Berkshire Athenaeum Lego Playland with a chance for kids of all ages to build their own Lego creations.

The Art + Industry initiative involves more than a dozen events at Cultural organizations around Pittsfield throughout May-October, including events and exhibitions at the city-owned Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, the Whitney Center for the Arts, Herman Melville’s Arrowhead and the Berkshire Museum.

“The Art + Industry initiative is underway and we are very happy to connect it to 3rd Thursday,” Jen Glockner, the Director of Cultural Development said.  “There will be several opportunities to merge Art + Industry throughout the evening to create inspiration.”

Other 3rd Thursday highlights include:  the Berkshire Eagle Art + Industry Photo Booth, the Roaming Jazz Ambassadors and performances from 8 Foot River, Berkshire Bateria, Berkshire Music School Build a Band, Berkshire Rocks, Candela, the Phil Grover Band, Zumba on Park Square, demos and performances from the Funkbox Dance Studio.  The miniature train rides from Roaming Railroad are back, as is the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club Fun Zone with basketball, bean bag toss and more.

The band T-Bone Daddy will perform outside at the Crowne Plaza and more performances can be found indoors as well. The Town Players of Pittsfield will present Mum Bett’s Minute at the Whitney Center for the Arts and Ryan Meczywor will be rocking the Marketplace Café.  The Berkshire Museum offers free admission for Berkshire County residents during the 3rd Thursday events.

The performances continue inside with the PechaKucha Night at Berkshire Museum, Word X Word Festival’s Poetry Slam Semi Finals at Dottie’s, the Irish Rovers at the Colonial Theatre, Barrington Stage’s Dancing Lessons at the main stage and Romance in Hard Times at the St. Germain Stage.  The Beacon Cinema has a special screening of Sharknado 2 and head over to Mission (no cover) and check out the Picky Bastards, a collective gathering of rotating local folk, rock and Americana musicians hosted by Andy Wrba and Chris Merenda.

“The Art + Industry theme adds to another strong lineup of Third Thursdays this year,” Mayor Dan Bianchi commented.  “The art work and performing arts at the Art + Industry theme will be enjoyable to see.”

The largest free outdoor event series in the Berkshires, 3rd Thursdays goes from 5pm-8pm and is family friendly and open to all.  The City Stage will be located on Park Square due to construction at Sottile and Persip Parks.  Once again North Street will be closed to vehicular traffic from West Street to Linden Street and will be filled with music, performance, demos, good food and community.

3rd Thursdays season sponsors include Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Berkshire Gas, Berkshire Health Systems, Greylock Federal Credit Union, the Berkshire Eagle and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Upcoming 3rd Thursdays dates and themes are September 18th: Walk A Mile in Her Shoes and October 16:  Halloween. 3rd Thursdays is organized by the City of Pittsfield Office of Cultural Development.  For more information on 3rd Thursdays please visit discoverpittsfield.com/3rdthursdays, email slemme@pittsfieldch.com or call 413-499-9348. 3rd Thursdays are held rain or shine and there is plenty of free parking throughout downtown’s Upstreet Cultural District.

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