stART on the Street Art Festival prepares for its biggest festival yet!

After 10 years and dozens of festivals, Worcester’s premier arts, music and cultural festival is thrilled to return to Park Ave for its 10th anniversary celebration on Sunday, September 16, from 11 a.m. -6 p.m.

The 10th anniversary celebration is expected to draw 50,000 people from Massachusetts and beyond to the streets of Worcester. Attendees can look forward to nearly 350 artists and crafters, more than 40 stage and street performers, hands-on free kids’ activities, Worcester Roller Derby (WoRD), interactive creative features for all ages, a youth art market, area non-profits, and over 20 food and dining options.

The visual arts for sale range widely and, by nature of the festival, are all locally handmade. Some of the media available include jewelry, painting, sculpture, soap, blown glass, pet goods, plants, woodwork, photography, ceramics, stained glass and much more.

Also featured this September is music and performance. From singer-songwriter to jazz ensembles, rock to a cappella and children’s music, the music will be flowing all day on the street and on four stages. One stage has been named in memory of Worcester music legend and friend of stART Scott Ricciuti, who passed away earlier in 2012. In reference to the Ricciuti Stage, Performance Coordinator Gabe Rollins said, “[Scott] was a great supporter of stART and all of the arts. We have dedicated a stage in his honor and have worked hard to fill it with music he would have loved and the spirit in which he instilled in all of us. We will miss [him] at stART by are glad we can honor [him] and all that [he] did for [his] community.”

stART has long featured hands-on activities for the kids, and the 10th anniversary will add more activities for all ages. One of these features is TASK, which stART Co-Director Stacy Lord describes as, “a collaborative, improvisational art event that can be planned and played by anyone, anywhere. We had fun with them last year,” says Lord. Another such interactive element at stART will be Science on the Street, which encourages its participants to combine technology and science with art.

As always, stART is a free and family-friendly event. Donations to keep stART going are greatly appreciated – brightly colored piggy banks will be accepting contributions on the street throughout the day. Area street parking will be available, and there is also an ATM on-site.

stART thanks all of the people who have helped it support the local economy by buying handmade for ten straight years!
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About stART on the Street:

stART is a non-profit organization run solely by volunteers. Created in 2002, stART on the Street has become one of Central Massachusetts’ premier cultural events. stART encourages everyone to support the local economy and buy handmade.