Pawtucket Arts Festival has two weekends of arts, culture, food, dance and more

Posted 9/7/22

The City of Pawtucket is celebrating its 24th annual Pawtucket Arts Festival together with the 6th annual Pawtucket Restaurant Week from Sept. 9 to 18.

The arts festival celebrates the …

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Pawtucket Arts Festival has two weekends of arts, culture, food, dance and more

Posted

The City of Pawtucket is celebrating its 24th annual Pawtucket Arts Festival together with the 6th annual Pawtucket Restaurant Week from Sept. 9 to 18.

The arts festival celebrates the city’s creative and cultural life by presenting vibrant arts events to Pawtucket residents and visitors to the Blackstone River Valley over 10 days, including dance, music, theater, film, visual and folk-traditional arts that evoke the city’s historic legacy and diverse communities.

It kicks off on Friday with Lorraine Mills Fest at 560 Mineral Spring Ave., where attendees can eat from a variety of food trucks, have a drink or two from a brewery and distillery, shop local art and crafts from studios and residents of the mill, and enjoy a variety of live entertainment.

The festival’s opening weekend (Sept. 10 and 11) Downtown LIVE!, presented in association with The Pawtucket Foundation, will feature music, exploration and celebration, which will showcase a broad range of the arts, featuring concerts, arts installations, gallery tours, street performers and culinary events, including Empanada Fest.

The second weekend features the Slater Park Fall Festival, a celebration of art and culture set on the grounds of historic Slater Memorial Park. The festival's open-air market, opening at 11 a.m., highlights more than one hundred crafters, artisans and creators of original handmade items. The surrounding areas are filled with fun, food and entertainment for the whole family, including face painting, crafts and entertainment for the kids.

The festival is highlighted by the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra as they perform their legendary “Pops in the Park” free concert at Slater Memorial Park on Sept. 17. Presented by the Pawtucket Teachers’ Alliance, 2022’s concert marks the 20th performance by the Philharmonic since its festival debut in 2003. The Saturday evening performance will be followed by a spectacular fireworks presentation presented by Bristol County Savings Bank at dusk.

The festival close out with Family Fun Day, which features activities, rides and games completely free of charge and will feature the counterpart to Empanada fest, Pizza Palooza, which will highlight the many excellent pizzerias in Pawtucket and is a must-visit for all the pizza lovers out there.

For a full listing of Pawtucket Arts Festival and Restaurant Week events, visit www.PawtucketArtsFestival.org under the 2022 Events tab.

The 2022 Pawtucket Arts Festival and Restaurant Week is presented by the City of Pawtucket, The Pawtucket Teachers’ Alliance, Coastal1 Credit Union, Navigant Credit Union, Centreville Bank, and The Times.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.