BOZEMAN – “It’s Magical” is the theme of this year’s Sweet Pea Festival, Aug. 2-4.
The three-day, volunteer-run festival has a mission of “promoting and cultivating the arts,” and has been held in Bozeman since 1978, offering music, dance, theatre, family entertainment, arts and crafts, a flower show and parade.
Main Stage musical headliners for 2013 include world-renowned dobro player Jerry Douglas and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans. Additional performance genres include bluegrass, folk, jazz, funk, rock and opera.
Artists from the Oregon Ballet Theatre will headline the dance line-up. This celebrated group recently performed on tour at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at Chicago Dancing Festival, and in Seoul, South Korea.
Missoula Children’s Theatre offers children entering grades 1-12 a chance to act in a performance of The Secret Garden. Auditions will be held July 29 at 10 a.m. at Hope Lutheran Church.
Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will perform The Recruiting Officer and Henry V.
Storyteller Bil Lepp and Celtic magician Daniel GreenWolf are featured performers on the Family Stage, while Camp Equinox Summer Theater Day Camp, a Bozeman institution and Sweet Pea tradition, will again perform at the festival.
One hundred local and regional vendors offering arts and crafts in ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, metal works, painting, photography and sculpture will be nestled under the trees in Lindley Park.
The week leading up to the festival sets the stage with community events. Artists of all skill levels converge on Main Street Tuesday morning for Chalk on the Walk. Wednesday evening local restaurants line Main Street to offer up samples during the Bite of Bozeman, and on Thursday the Sweet Pea Art Show opens at the Bozeman Public Library.
All proceeds from Sweet Pea go toward festival operations and grants for the arts, art education, and special projects in the Bozeman area.
For a full schedule of events and ticketing information, visit sweetpeafestival.org.
