Q: We love the outdoors and heard something about a musical lantern event in the northside of town. Can you tell me about it?
A: You are inquiring about the Lantern Series in Woodstock, held near downtown on a four-acre greenspace.
The Elm Street Cultural Arts Village introduced the Lantern Series last year, bringing artists from around the world to perform. “While we want to entertain, we also want to challenge the community a bit in terms of musical styles they may or may not typically see,” said Education and Marketing Coordinator, Justin Spainhour-Roth of Elm Street Cultural Arts Village.
The event was built around the idea of bringing community and conversation together. Researching in what to name the series, they found that in almost any culture, some sort of lantern or light is focal to dialogue, according to Spainhour-Roth.
"There is something central about a lantern that's able to connect us – the centerpiece at the table for conversation," he said.
The Lantern Series typically has one concert a month through October and returns in April through July.
The events are ticketed with a variety of seating options, ranging from $11 up to $200. General admission, “bring your own blanket,” runs $11-$14. The higher-priced tickets include seating and tables for parties of six to eight people.
Wrapping up this series is the House of Waters on July 27.
“These guys are just a ton of fun. They do world music so they take a lot of different sounds inspired from around the globe. Each of the instrumentalists is from a different country each bringing something personal to the music,” said Spainhour-Roth.
The kickoff for their second season is Aug. 17.
“The Lantern Series is very unique and is a concert experience that I don’t feel people can truly experience without being there,” said Spainhour-Roth. “It’s been really cool to see people come in and leave with a new experience in a different genre of music. The ability to share this music is one of the biggest reasons we do it.”
The Lantern Series is held at Elm Street Cultural Arts Village Event Green, 111 Elm Street, Woodstock.
For more information, visit www.elmstreetarts.org/lantern-series or call (678) 494-4251.
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