Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: The Verge

Celebration: A Festival of the Arts will be held in the Library Quad this weekend, located on campus on the north side of Booth Library. There will be an art fair, music, food and activities for all ages. (Submitted photo)

After months of strenuous studying, cold weather, homework, projects and tests - and not to mention the reality of finals days fast approaching - students need some time to have some fun.

This is the principal behind Eastern's Celebration: A Festival of the Arts.

It gives students, local residents and children a chance to have some fun while appreciating the arts.

The festival, which will run today through Sunday, will feature many different performances, as well as a variety of food and wares to purchase from vendors. All of the events will take place in the Library Quad, in addition to the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Dan Crews, the festival director, said Celebration presents arts that students are familiar with, and maybe not so familiar with, in a fun and approachable way.

Crews said, because Eastern students are easy-going and friendly, the artists will be able to interact with them in an open way.

Live music will be played not only outside on a stage set up in the Library Quad, but will also be in Doudna, a first in Celebration history.

There will be many different varieties of music including rock, jazz, world music, rap, bluegrass and more.

The first band to take the stage today, the Celebration day dubbed "Pantherstock," will be the EIU Jazz Lab Band.

They will be followed by some of Eastern's local talent, including Little Boy Jr., Mugwump Specific and The Staff Blues Band.

Wrong Way, a Sublime Tribute, will also be performing on Friday.

Saturday will be a more art-geared day.

There is an art fair that will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in addition to African Art, Children's art activities and dance.

Children will also be able to meet the cartoon stars Maya and Miguel from the PBS show of the same name.

In addition, the Hat Creek Wranglers, a group of award-winning cowboy-poets, will be performing poetry readings in their own unique fashion.

"These guys are really working cowboys out in Montana and also out in Arkansas, but at the same time, they write poetry," Crews said. "They're hilarious."

Sunday will feature more art shows, world music and interactive activities, including a performance by Dave Herszog and his marionettes in Captain Cranky and His Crew: A Pirate Adventure.

Throughout the course of the three days, Ted Siebert will be sculpting a 15 to 20 ton sand sculpture in Library Quad.

All three days are free to attend and the festival will run regardless of the weather.

"We're celebrating the arts and the role they play in our lives," Crews said. "I think that no matter who you are, you either have interest in music or visual arts but there's a lot of times where the arts, just stimulate all of us."

For additional information on the festival or for questions contact the Festival Planning Office at 581-2113 or view the Web site at www.eiu.edu/~festival.

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