Paradise by the fairground lights

For 25 years, Memorial Day Weekend in the Valley has been marked not just by the usual yardsticks of parades, barbecues and other activities: In these parts, the Paradise City Arts Festival also reminds us we’re on the cusp of summer.

Starting Saturday, May 25 and running through Monday, May 27, the festival, at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, also serves as a reminder that art is best seen up close — not on the internet — especially when you have an opportunity to meet artists in person.

This year as in past ones, Paradise City brings some 250 artists and master craft makers of all stripes — painters, furniture and jewelry makers, clothing designers, sculptors — from 20 states to the Three County Fairgrounds to exhibit their work. Many artists also offer workshops and demonstrations, and there are special displays with themed art. This year it’s “Fully Engaged,” in which artists have worked their magic on engagement rings, champagne glasses, vases and other staples for a memorable wedding ceremony.

Another key part of the festival: a silent auction of art, to help local organizations and community causes. This year the International Language Institute (ILI) of Northampton, which offers free English classes to immigrants, is the beneficiary of the event. There’s another ILI connection: One of the exhibiting artists at the festival is Yaritza Molina, a former ILI student who makes bowls and other vessels from tapara, a type of squash in her native Venezuela.

You won’t go hungry at Paradise City Arts, either. Under a 12,000-square-foot dining tent will be what organizers call “a microcosm of Northampton’s vibrant restaurant scene,” with area eateries offering a variety of food, including pad Thai, pizza, lobster rolls, locavore burgers, smoked BBQ, Asian tacos, homemade ice cream and more.

Festival tickets range from $8 to $16, depending on visitors’ age and their length of visit; children 12 and under attend for free. For more information, visit festivals.paradisecityarts.com.

 

Dance (and read) the night away

Now in its fourth year, the Practicing Presence Festival brings together emerging and professional dance artists for a series of classes in Northampton, as well some public dance performances and book readings by artists whose work can cross boundaries. Held at both the Northampton Community Arts Trust building at 33 Hawley Street, and at the School for Contemporary Dance & Thought (SCD&T) on Main Street, the festival takes place starting today (Friday), May 24 through Sunday, May 26.

Among a number of performances, a Friday night show at SCDT’s Studio 4 at 7 p.m. will offer new choreography from school faculty and visiting dancers. And on Saturday at the studio, also at 7 p.m., visiting dancers Scott Hardwig and Paul Matteson will present new solo work, with the choreography reflecting unusual influences.

Hardwig, backed by live music by Caleb Flood and animation by Zach Durer, uses “motion capture, projection, and interactive avatar designs to present a chimeric vision of the human body fragmented in the cyber age,” according to press notes. Matteson, who performed at Northampton’s “Bodies in Motion” festival this past winter, here collaborates with visual artist Rosalyn Driscoll on themes including birth and incubation.

Driscoll, in turn, presents a slideshow and reads from her forthcoming book, “By the Light of the Body: The Somatic Senses in the Visual Arts,” on Friday at 1 p.m. at 33 Hawley Street.

For tickets, additional information and a full schedule of events at the Practicing Presence Festival, visit scdtnoho.com.

— Steve Pfarrer