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Preview of Downtown Festival of Arts locations. Photo by James Kyung

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The 6th Annual Champaign Park District’s Downtown Festival of the Arts is just around the corner on Aug. 15, in the heart of downtown Champaign at Neil and Main Streets from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Champaign Park District’s Special Events manager Katie Flint says the festival will “emphasize the different types of arts local and regional … for the music lover, dance lover, jewelry lover, etc.” for people of all ages.

Over 70 artists will be featured in this day long celebration of the area’s myriad of creative fine artists from music, photography, watercolor, jewelry, glass work, sculpture and much more. This family event will offer a variety of foods from the immediate local eateries (like Aroma Cafe, Jim Gould, Café Kopi) and enrich the hearts and souls of local art lovers.

The fest will feature three venues: a main stage of local musicians, a performing arts stage, highlighting theatre and dance and a family entertainment stage with music, storytelling and a magician.

Featured performer Darden Purcell is thrilled at the opportunity to perform at this year’s fest:

“I think it is fantastic that downtown Champaign hosts a day for artists and performers to showcase their talent. There are so many gifted people in this town and it is wonderful that this community supports these local artists”.

Among the many musical artists featured in this year’s fest include local acoustic and folk group, The Hathaways. The Darden Purcell Quartet, a jazz group lead by Purcell, a renown jazz vocalist, will also perform. According to Purcell, “The audience can expect to hear classics from the Great American Songbook as well as Jazz Standards and some Brazilian music.” Kennedy’s Kitchen, a group of five that feature Irish/Celtic music, Tree Thump, an experimental group that features a uniquely Austrailian sound described on their website as “Didgeridu driven music with a penetrating, psychedelic vibe and funky drum and bass grooves, topped off with sweet fiery explosions of electronic violins,” Desafinado, a local Samba/Brazilian group and Paul Imholte, “the Musical Stringman”, who plays everything from fiddle, guitar, banjo, dulcimer, mandolin are also scheduled to perform.

For more information about any of these exciting events and for a complete schedule of the day’s events of the Downtown Festival of the Arts go online at http://www.champaignparkdistrict.com/events/dtfoa/music.htm.

Schedule FOR AUGUST 15

Main Entertainment Tent

10-11 a.m. Hathaways

11:30-1 p.m. Darden Purcell Quartet

1:30-3 p.m. Kennedy’s Kitchen

3:30-4:30 p.m. Tree Thump

5-7 p.m. Desafinado

Roaming act 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Paul Imholte

Performing Arts Stage

11-12 noon CPD Dance Arts, Djibril Camara and Ballet Allah

2-3 p.m. The CoMMoN Theatre Project

3:30-4:30 p.m. Gypsy Hips

5-6 p.m. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

6:30-7:30 p.m. Brittany Johnson Fiddle

Family Entertainment Stage

11 a.m.-12 noon Kennedy’s Kitchen

12:30-1:30 p.m. Andrew Anderson (magician)

2-2:30 p.m. Parkland Props

3-3:30 p.m. Prompting Theatre

4-5 p.m. Patricia Hruby-Powell (Storyteller)

5:30-6:30 p.m. Andrew Anderson (magician)