A new art festival in downtown Raleigh is set to begin August 21. The Art on the Edge event sent out a press release that describes the event better than I can!

Strange Fruit and Architects of Air will be part of Art on the Edge, a new art festival set for August 21-23. The internationally acclaimed groups will bring their talents and art forms to the festival, which will be held on Lichtin Plaza and inside the A.J. Fletcher Opera Theatre at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

Art on the Edge is a 3-day contemporary arts festival celebrating the vibrancy and variety of today’s art scene. From debut performances by the state’s leading theatre companies to concerts by progressive musicians to performance art that tests boundaries (and gravity!), Art on the Edge invites the audience to explore the richness of contemporary art.

The festival will kick off with the spectacular installation of Levity III, a 10,000 square foot luminarium created by England’s Architects of Air. The luminarium is designed to give visitors an immersive and reflective experience. Through labyrinthine tunnels and inspiring, spacious domes, visitors move in a medium of saturated and subtle hues. Australia’s famed Strange Fruit, whose remarkable style of work fuses theatre, dance and circus, using a unique elevated medium, will perform three shows Saturday, August 23, outside on Lichtin Plaza.  The featured show, “Swoon” will captivate the audience as the artists bend and sway while perched 14 feet in the air.

Other festival highlights include a sampling of great local bands including Birds of Avalon, The Huguenots, The Cartridge Family, and Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies. Also, festival-goers will enjoy “El Gleno Grande” – a spoof of a circus equestrian act that will appeal to all ages, and a performance by The Old Ceremony, “Music for Earth and Sky” in collaboration with an aerial dancer and various members of the Tangophilia group.
In addition, Art on the Edge will highlight new projects from some of Raleigh’s own theatre organizations – North Carolina Theatre will share The Existents , a “new rock theatrical” featuring Shoshana Bean and other well-known Broadway stars ; Theatre in the Park will present a new play, Give It Up, Turn It Loose; and Burning Coal Theatre Company will present Howie the Rookie, featuring well-known actor Lucius Robinson of the Delta Boys.  All of the performances will be held inside Fletcher Theatre.

Art on the Edge is the third of four new festivals of the Arts Alive on Lichtin Plaza series. Each festival is designed to showcase the richness and diversity of contemporary art and enliven the outdoor Lichtin Plaza at Raleigh’s beautiful Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. The Capital Holiday Arts Celebration, the first festival in the series, was held November 24, 2007 and highlighted some of the Triangle’s premier holiday arts performances. Puppet Fusion, a celebration of the art of puppetry, took place March 6-7, 2008. To culminate the series, a festival featuring the works of North Carolina’s visual arts and fine crafts community will be held October 18-19, 2008 on Lichtin Plaza. Artsplosure serves as the producer and organizer of Arts Alive on Lichtin Plaza