New Haven Hosts the Seventh Annual Festival of Arts and Ideas, June 13-30

A smorgasbord of exciting and original theater, art, and thought arrives in New Haven on June 13 when the Seventh Annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas commences. Over the course of 18 days, there will be over 250 events involving participants from around the world–South Africa, Venezuela, Palestine, Denmark, Israel, etc.

Cuba’s Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio, Egyptian superstar Hakim, the gospel band The Campbell Brothers, puppeteer Basil Twist, and the Kronos Quartet will all be participants in the festival. The Royal Shakespeare Company will present its production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, NYC’s Metropolitan Opera will offer La Boheme (before Baz Luhrmann unveils his vision of the Puccini opera on Broadway), and France Transe Express will open the festivities with “Mobile Homme,” a human mobile created 100 feet in the air.

Not only theaters and auditoriums will open up their doors to house all of the work that will be on display around town: churches, galleries, and libraries all over New Haven will also create makeshift stages for the incoming artists. And, because it is summer and the weather is nice, there will be plenty of outdoor performances as well. As to the “ideas” portion of the festival, there will be workshops, exhibitions, poetry readings, dialogues, tours, readings, and more, all designed to give visitors lots of food for thought.

For more information on the International Festival of Arts and Ideas and a calendar of events, visit www.artidea.org.