Huntington Arts Council: Bringing a Community Outdoors and Up Tone

Most of us have been to an outdoor concert at one time or another. It’s an experience that sticks with you from as far back as you can remember, before you knew the difference between Sousa and Salsa.
There’s that moment when those big outdoor speakers crackle to life and you sense a magnetic hum coming from the ground up as the band warms up on the stage below. Moments like this have made you think maybe it’s a pretty awesome thing to be a musician down there on that stage, under that glow. Awesome and inspiring.

For the past 41 years, the Huntington Summer Arts Festival has inspired people from Huntington on out, serving up a cultural palette of outdoor concerts, drama, comedy and other performances during its eight week summer run. The vast majority of free events are held at the festival’s main venue, the Chapin Rainbow Stage in beautiful Heckscher Park. The festival is presented by the Town of Huntington, and produced by the Huntington Arts Council, which serves as a catalyst for arts advocacy.

All performances are free, and there is no reserved seating, so visitors are encouraged to come early to get the best location and bring a blanket or folding chair for comfort. Space has been set aside for wheelchair accessibility.

The 2007 edition of the Huntington Summer Arts Festival is shaping up to be among the best ever, representing a virtual cornucopia of artistic performances that appeal to all ages. Featured performers include Eric Lindell (6/23), Dance Theater Company & the Red Hot Momma's (6/29), the Andy Palacio Collective (6/30), the Wizard of Oz (7/3), Little Wilson Band (7/6), Damn Yankees (7/14), Karrin Allyson (7/21), Average White Band (7/28), Nassau Pops (8/1), and the Long Island Philharmonic (8/18).

The festival commands a great deal of mind share across Long Island by virtue of several factors:

• It is the largest summer arts festival on Long Island, featuring 51 free evening performances

• It is presented on the premier public stage on Long Island, centered between Nassau and Suffolk Counties

• Talent includes international, national and local musicians, actors, comedians and more.

• It serves more than 250,000 residents in the Town of Huntington’s 10 plus villages, extending to the 3 million people on Long Island.

Forty years ago, those statistics were not even imaginable as staff members cobbled up a plywood stage on the steps of the Heckscher Museum of Art to celebrate Independence Day. Later on, in 1979, then Town of Huntington Supervisor Ken Butterfield with the support of Harry and Sandy Chapin, created the band shell (later to be renamed the Chapin Rainbow Stage in dedication to Harry Chapin). The festival then expanded from a showcase for local amateur performing groups, to presenting varied and top professional entertainment in a relaxed and community environment.

Now, the stage welcomes world renowned performers, singers, songwriters…jazz leaders, pop vocalists and dance troupes.

It occasionally draws national attention as it did last summer when Billy Joel made a surprise visit during a performance of his classical compositions by Richard Joo, himself a world-class pianist.

A complete list of this year’s performances and dates are posted on the council’s official website: huntingtonarts.org and in the summer issue of its quarterly newspaper, Arts Cultural News.