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ArtsFest 2024 – the exciting weekend-long celebration of the arts — will take place in New Rochelle and surrounding communities from Thursday, October 17th through Sunday, October 20th. The action-packed weekend includes a return visit from The Moth Radio Hour,  open artists studios, live music and dance, film screenings, art exhibits, a classic car show, a Makers Market, spoken word events, a free trolley tour of New Rochelle’s murals, and interactive activities for all ages.

Now in its 15th year, ArtsFest is organized by the non-profit New Rochelle Council on the Arts (NRCA) to spotlight the diversity of arts and artists in our community: In total ArtsFest 2024 will feature more than 35 venues representing the work of some 250 visual and performing artists.

Sponsors for this year’s ArtsFest as of September 5th (still in formation) include ArtsWestchester, The City of New Rochelle IDA, The Appleyard Foundation, BPR, RXR, Charles Fazzino, Alvin & Friends, an anonymous donor, and in-kind donors AJ’s Burgers and the New Rochelle Public Library.

ArtsFest 2024 will kick off on Thursday, October 17th with a free concert by Andromeda Turre, the award-winning jazz singer and composer who hosts her own show on Sirius XM radio. Turre and her band will be performing “From the Earth,” a jazz suite she composed and recorded that she says “looks at climate change with a human rights lens” and aims to foster meaningful connections across different communities through the medium of jazz.

On Friday, October 18th the public is invited to a reception at the NRCA Rotunda Gallery at 5 pm for the Open Studios Artists: Guests can view works by some of the 18 artists who will be opening their studios for visits over the weekend. Then at 6:30 pm The Moth returns, bringing its acclaimed Story SLAM back to New Rochelle. The Moth pioneered live, community-based open mic storytelling competitions that are incredibly popular (The Peabody Award winning Moth Radio Hour racks up over 1 million listeners per week and is aired on 570 radio stations, and The Moth podcast is downloaded over 100 million times each year.)  Last year’s Story SLAM sold out quickly: Tickets cost $15 and are available on line starting September 27th .

Other ArtsFest highlights include the Arts Fest Dance Festival, showcasing free performances by both professional and amateur companies (featuring Ajkun Ballet Theatre, New Beginnings, Ballet Arts of Westchester, Rooftop Rhythms, Mor Dance, Christy Walsh and Ballet des Amériques on Saturday and Accent Dance, Dance Ministry Institute, Hudson Ballet Theatre, Coleman School of Dance, NRHS PAVE and Steffi Nossen on Sunday.)  And the ArtsFest Makers Market which will offer live music, food trucks and 40 vendors on the grounds of Thomas Paine Cottage.

This year’s music venues include the Thomas Paine Memorial Building, where “Hurdy Gurdy” man Jerome Hughes will demonstrate that unique instrument, and Leland Castle, the centerpiece of the former College of New Rochelle campus, which will host an afternoon of live jazz on Sunday; on Friday night jazz vocalist Barbara King will perform a concert at the Ossie Davis Theater at the New Rochelle Public Library celebrating the centennial of jazz vocalist extraordinaire Sara Vaughan.

New this year is an ArtsFest Film Festival that will showcase works by aspiring young film makers; thirteen short films will be screened at The Picture House in Pelham.  And the NRCA Rotunda Gallery will exhibit works by the artists who are opening their studios for ArtsFest, with a reception planned for Friday night from 5 to 7 pm. Guest curator Erika Hibbert says “Come and feast your eyes on diverse, excellent and engaging homegrown art! Then head off to visit individual artists’ studios around New Rochelle and lower Westchester over ArtsFest weekend.”

Also on the menu are interactive events, like “Art in the Garden” — a collaboration between the New Rochelle Art Association and Heathy Yards New Rochelle that invites participants to explore nature-themed art displayed in a private garden – and The Haunt at Wildcliff Mansion,

a spinechillingly immersive Halloween experience: Guests can explore a forgotten laboratory, navigate a restless graveyard, wander the haunted corn maze, and investigate Wildcliff Mansion, encountering ghostly figures and reanimated horrors at every turn.  (The Haunt is a ticketed event recommended for adults, teens and children who love horror or haunted houses: Guests under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult; no babies or strollers will be allowed.)

The ArtsFest steering committee includes NRCA President Theresa Kump Leghorn and NRCA Board members Maddali Paci Atallah, Marisa Boan, Margaret Chadwick, Barbara Davis, Monica Deane, Selena Evans, Dave Fabris, Lynn Green, Harmony Hopwood, Janine Jones, Julie Maner, Christine Ramage, Karen Keller Selman,  Angela Derecas Taylor and Catherine White along with committee members Delano Allen, Bridget Bettke, Alexi Brock, Clayton Bushong,  Michael Cammer, Bob Clark, AJ Cohen,  Liz Garland, Lisa Itzkowitz, Monica Uhm, Scott Seaboldt, Malik Simmon, Andi Stix, Suzanne Tanswell, and Rosa Van Zandt.

An official ArtsFest calendar will be mailed to city residents and available at venues as well as online at NRCA’s website www.newrochellearts.org.

ArtsFest is organized by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts. The mission of NRCA (founded in 1975) is to encourage the study and presentation of the performing and fine arts, and over the years NRCA has sponsored art exhibitions, theatrical  productions, dance recitals, film screenings, lectures, spoken word events, concert series and public art.  Find out more about NRCA at www.newrochellearts.org.

The New Rochelle Council on the Arts is proud to be a grantee of ArtsWestchester with funding made possible by Westchester County government with the support of County Executive George Latimer.