Newton’s Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts kicks off this evening with a performance by Newton’s own acclaimed New Philharmonia Orchestra at the Hyde Playground on Lincoln St at 6:30 PM. The hour long concert will be followed by an “Instrument Petting Zoo” where curious kids (and inquisitive adults) can come by and see the full range or orchestra musical instruments up close and personal. They’ll show you how to hold the instruments and how to make it sing … or at least squawk.
At dusk, the cinema classic Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman will be screened on the bandstand screen.
It’s all free and a great way to spend a hot summer night.
Check out the rest of the Festival’s weekend long program here. There’s something for everyone and a lot of great talent performing on four different stages (Hyde Playground in the Highlands, Newton Centre Greem, Suzuki School in Waban, and the Nathaniel Allen House in West Newton) all weekend long. All shows are free, just show up and enjoy.
See you there!
Thanks Jerry for the post! Please don’t fret the heat, we are trying to keep things as “cool” as possible this weekend (in addition to the cool jazz & R&B sounds of our performers) with SPRINKLERS for the kids on the Newton Center Village Green on Saturday 12-5 PM during the various acts and on both Saturday and Sunday at the Hyde Playground during all afternoon and evening performances. On Saturday the Hyde Playground will have the MWRA WATER TRUCK filled with cold water all day long to refill your water bottles and thank you Village Bank who will be giving away 200 refillable water bottles to use for the Festival, and of course we have TENTS set up and big beautiful Newton trees bringing shade wherever possible. Lots of entertainment to enjoy starting tonight. Hope to see you at one of our 4 venues – Newton Centre, the Hyde Playground, Suzuki School of Newton or the Allen Center for Arts & Culture. Full schedule here https://newtoncommunitypride.org/
Please remember to support Newton’s independent businesses this weekend—this is the first time they have been invited to participate in the Festival of the Arts. Many of Newton’s small businesses are struggling to make ends meet–between Newton’s summer slowdown and their rising costs. They could all use support from everyone throughout the city right now to make sure our villages remain vibrant, welcoming spaces for the arts. Here’s a list of the specials being offered, including cool picnic meals to enjoy throughout the weekend: https://www.allovernewton.com/festival-of-the-arts-deals-and-meals
Congratulations and thanks to the festival organizers and performers. I’ve enjoyed the events on Friday and Saturday and am looking forward to tomorrow.
I saw Debo Ray last night at the Hyde Playground. She and her band were fabulous.
So much fun at Hyde today. All 4 bands were very good. The first band and the third bands were my favorites. Thaddeus in particular is a beast. We’re so lucky.
Couch, tonight’s final band at the Hyde were just great. Good crowd too.
The duo at the Allen House on Sunday afternoon was incredible: a last minute substitution for a performer testing positive for Covid, these musicians were a highlight for me. And Tema Seigel and Couch were so good! Perfect finale for an all around great weekend. Thanks to Gloria Gavris, Chris Pitts, the three excellent venues – the Allen Center for Arts and Culture (Adrienne Hartzell), Suzuki School (Sachiko Isihara) and the primary venue the Hyde Community Center (John Rice), and, of course, all of the talented artists who entertained us and maybe even helped us forget the record breaking temperatures!!
One observation as someone who doesn’t live in Highlands but spent Sunday afternoon there… It’s a ghost town on Sundays as far as businesses!! People were hungry and almost nothing was open. Anna’s was getting good business though! I hope next year they can get some food vendors.
Yes, Mary, we agree. It was unfortunate that Highland businesses closed on Sundays. We looked into food trucks but they are tricky to schedule because they require a spending minimum of sometimes $1000 or more which is hard when you provide free programming and don’t know how many people will attend. As a small non-profit, to try to include 3-4 food trucks in your budge is simply hard to cover. That is why we like to program in our village centers to help out the local retailers and restaurants with increased foot traffic. I know Anna’s certainly did well all weekend and we hope Lincoln Kitchen, Dining Car, Grape Leaf, Tango Mango, Johnny’s Diner, Waban Market etc. did too.
I am lucky to live a block from the Hyde bandstand so I got to listen to this weekend’s concerts from the comfort of my home without braving the heat. lovely music all weekend.
I’m getting to like many things about living in Marlborough, but Jerry’s post and the many comments it prompted made me appreciate just how many great things go on in Newton that simply are not replicated in almost all other places.
Hi everyone ! What a fabulous festival weekend it was! It was a scorcher but we kept our cool and very grateful for those that attended our outdoor venues in the Highlands, Waban and in Newton Centre. The Allen Center provided AC which was a welcome relief for some wonderfully talented dance, flutist/piano playing and the always fun “Nomadic Theatre Story Slam”. The talent this weekend was outstanding and diverse and we hope created opportunities for everyone to see something new and different as well. We loved closing the festival with Newton’s rising star Tema Siegel and Couch on Sunday night. The crowd was big, energized and had lots of fun. It must have been at least 400 strong! It you attended the Festival, we would love to hear from you. Please take this very short survey to help us plan for next year.https://buff.ly/3S01iu0. Thank you so much.
I filled out the survey but hope the team would consider holding it in June or September! I knew a lot of people who were on vacation and sad to miss it. Plus the heat was tough. A lot of the very talented acts did not get the crowds or fanfare they deserved!