CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Art in the Open returns for its ninth edition on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 4 p.m. to midnight.
The contemporary art festival transforms downtown Charlottetown into an open-air art gallery that is free to attend and is open to all ages.
Ephemeral, interactive artworks by locally and nationally renowned artists will appear in unlikely places around the downtown, challenging viewers to look at their surroundings with fresh eyes and expect the unexpected.
At a glance:
Here are some tips from Discover Charlottetown for enjoying Art in the Open:
1. Leave your expectations at home: Art in the Open is meant to be an experience you can’t plan for or anticipate.
2. Do it by day, then do it by night: Make the most of the daylight hours by exploring the spaces in downtown Charlottetown. As day turns to night, make your way to Victoria Park for evening programming.
3. March with the crows or cheer them on: Join the city’s most highly-anticipated bird event of the year (by the organizers' estimation, in any case). Caw, squawk and generally embrace your inner crow as the March of the Crows winds its way through historic Charlottetown, ending at Victoria Park.
4. Get in on the action: Art in the Open is not designed with the passive observer in mind. Instead, it extends an invitation to rediscover your playful side and fully embrace your creative nature.
The festival fills the public and green spaces of the downtown core with creativity, inspiration and innovation.
This year’s theme, “Uncommon Threads’’, will be presented in numerous works that consider narrative and storytelling in various capacities.
In total, there are 29 projects and 35 activations that focus on how people wear their histories and identities — who we are, both on the surface and underneath it. Costumes, masks, performed personas and embodied characters are prevalent in this year’s projects.
People are invited to take part in the crow parade that occurs midway through the festival at 7:45 p.m. Participants are also encouraged to dress up like the crows that fly across the city to make their way home to Victoria Park and follow them through the downtown toward the park, squawking and making a ruckus.
Volunteers will be present at all festival sites to answer questions and provide programs.
For more information, visit artintheopenpei.com.
