Artsplosure Announces 2019 Lineup and Festival Details

Lineup Announced for Artsplosure – The Raleigh Arts Festival: May 18-19, 2019

To mark its 40th anniverary, the annual Raleigh Arts Festival will showcase a diverse mix of music, performance art, children’s activities, interactive sculptures, and fine artists and crafters from 20 states in downtown Raleigh. As it has been for 40 years, Artsplosure is free to the public!

RALEIGH, NC – Artsplosure, the presenter of Artsplosure – The Raleigh Arts Festival, today announces its lineup of visual and performing artists. Festival hours are 11 am to 7 pm on Saturday, May 18, and 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday, May 19. For the third consecutive year, the festival’s full footprint will be entirely on Fayetteville Street with a fully programmed music stage anchoring the northern end of the event.

On the southern end, City Plaza will feature Australian environmental artist Amanda Parer’s large scale sculptural work entitled What’s That? from her Fantastic Planet series. The work will be enlivened by an adjacent performance space.

North Carolina artist Michael Layne is bringing his bass clef shaped work entitled BaseLine to the festival. Located on W.Hargett Street, BaseLine is an interactive, bamboo and fabric installation in which participants make music using bamboo instruments.

The festival’s centerpiece, the juried and highly competitve Art Market features nearly 180 visual artists from across North Carolina and the nation. These artists and crafters exhibit and sell their original works of art in the following categories: ceramics, fiber art, glass, jewelry, metal, painting, photography, wood, other 2D and 3D works. Three expert judges award $3,500 in six merit awards to the top artists in the market. The Art Market opens an hour early on Sunday, May 19 for easy access for those with accessibility or other special needs.

Fayetteville Street will be filled with music beginning Saturday at 12 pm, on the Main Stage near the NC State Capitol building. Saturday performances highlight an array of talent and genres, featuring sets from the India Ramey, Rissi Palmer, Union Duke, and Scott Mulvahill. Saturday’s headliners are the Gulf Coast Soul band, The Suffers, whose appearances on The Daily Show, NPR, and at SXSW have them at the top of many Musicians-to-Watch lists. Great music continue on Sunday, May 19, starting at 11 pm with DZ Carr Band, The Old Ceremony, The Artisnals, and The East Pointers. Sunday’s headliner is a founding father of the genre now called Americana, Alejandro Escovedo. From his early Punk days opening for The Sex Pistols and collaborating with Raleigh’s Whiskeytown and Ryan Adams, Escovedo is considered one of the finest singer songwriters of his generation.

Kidsplosure opens on W. Martin Street at 11 am on Saturday with special performances by the Enloe Jazz Assassians, One Tribe Drummung, Tarin Pipkins, Express Yourself Kids, Theatre Raleigh, Story Time with Read With Me, NC Association of Black Storytellers, and an array of local young talents from across the Triangle. As always, Kidsplosure will be filled with crafts and other interactive activities for children to enjoy and learn from!