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A festival to celebrate Gloucester's heritage
March 19, 2007
A festival to celebrate Gloucester as a city of great maritime and artistic heritage will take place this Memorial Day weekend with the launch of Cruiseport Gloucester on the inner harbor.
The three-day event will feature music, art exhibits, films, tours of the Schooner Adventure, educational programs and demonstrations celebrating Gloucester's connection to the sea and its influence on artists.
Two events, the Adventure in the Arts Ball on Friday, May 25, and a dockside concert on Saturday, May 26, will serve as a benefit with proceeds going to the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (seARTS) and the Schooner Adventure, which is berthed at the dock of Cruiseport Gloucester, which is hosting the festival. The festival concludes with an art auction on Sunday, May 27.
The Saturday night concert features the original Pousette-Dart Band, which will reunite after 20 years. Gloucester's
David Brown will serve as the music director for the Celebrate Gloucester concert, which also features John Troy, Dave Mattacks, Alan Estes, Fly Amero, a special appearance by J.B. Amero and others.
Peter Van Ness, general manager of Cruiseport Gloucester, said the idea behind the event, in addition to representing the grand opening of the cruise ship terminal, was to bring together the maritime community with the arts community.
"We really want to celebrate that heritage because we are home to the oldest seaport in the United States and the oldest working art colony," he said. "For hundreds of years we've mixed the two cultures, and that's part of the essence of Gloucester and we thought it was time to celebrate that. We want to preserve the past and embrace the future."
The organizers did not want to compete with the many other festivals that take place over the summer. Memorial Day, often seen as the unofficial beginning of summer, seemed to work best.
Allan Penn, vice president of seARTS, said Celebrate Gloucester will be great for the city as an event to focus on what makes Gloucester unique.
"We have a lot of festivals in town, such as Fiesta, the seafood festival and crafts festival. But this one, as the title says, is a time to celebrate Gloucester, plus it ties in the elements of art and music," Penn said. "This city is a place near and dear to many people. Visitors come here to experience Gloucester. It's not a Newport, and it's not Cape Cod. It has a feeling and taste very different from other communities. This will celebrate all these things that are important to Gloucester, and hopefully it will become an annual event."
Van Ness said he was hooked by the seARTS mission to establish Gloucester as a world-class arts center.
In turn, the two benefit events will boost the efforts of the Schooner Adventure, which represents the city's maritime heritage and seARTs, "which is one of the most promising arts organizations in the city," Van Ness said.
Joanne Souza, director of the Schooner Adventure, said the organization is delighted to be included as part of the benefit, and she is eager for the new terminal to open. The schooner, built in 1926, is being restored and is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
"This is going to be a great place, and this will dress up the inner harbor and bring more people to this end of town," she said. "Visitors from the cruise ships said they liked coming into Gloucester because they got a taste of real fishing wharves."
Those attending the Adventure in the Arts Ball will be among the first to enjoy the new 6,000-square-foot ballroom with a 100-foot wall of glass, which opens onto a balcony overlooking the scenic harbor and the Schooner Adventure. The Web site www.CelebrateGloucester.com provides details about the many events. Or for more information, call 978-282-9700.
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