Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Springing the Blues Festival 2010 – Jacksonville Beach, Fl

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Springing The Blues is one of the most popular annual festivals in Jacksonville, Florida, every spring attracting somewhere around 125,000 blues fans. At this festival you will experience live performances on stage from some of the nation’s top Blues performers. Another plus in my book is the fact that Springing The Blues is a free outdoor blues music festival. The three-day oceanfront music festival takes place April 9 – 11, 2010, and  features a selection of blues performers as well as other activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Springing The Blues festival is held at Jacksonville Beach, Florida’s Oceanfront SeaWalk Pavilion.

Interesting Facts About the Festival:
• Downbeat Magazine has named Springing the Blues as one of the top 50 Music Festivals in the World
• SouthEast Tourism Society named the festival as one of the top 20 destination events in the U.S.
• Springing the Blues is known as Florida’s largest free outdoor blues festival.
• In 1997 the festival was voted as “Best Festival in Northeast Florida” by Folio Weekly Magazine’s annual poll.

Click here for the schedule of performances

This year the festival will take place on April 9-11 , 2010, at Seawalk Plaza, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Tybee Wine Festival 2010 – Tybee Island, Georgia

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Now you can support Tybee Post Theater by coming to the 2010 Tybee Wine Festival. The 2009 Wine Festival was very successful and earned over $10,000 for the restoration.The event is scheduled for April 17, 2010, from 3 pm – 7 pm on the grounds of the Tybee Lighthouse and it’s a great opportunity to do good and have fun at the same time.

The wine festival will feature over 100 international wines plus delicious  tapas from some of Tybee Islands best restaurants.  But for those of who don’t appreciate good wine, the organizers have arranged something special for this year. This year the festival will also  offer a selection of craft beers, so you have no excuse for staying home. There will even be  a raffle, silent auction and live music by some of the island’s finest musicians.

Attendees receive a free gift package which includes a souvenir wine glass and wine tote. Participating restaurants are Hunter House, Papa’s Bar-B-Que & Seafood, The Breakfast Club, Fannies on the Beach, Marline Monroe’s, Doc’s Bar, Huca Poos, Sundae Cafe and Sting Rays.

All festival net proceeds go to the restoration of the Tybee Post Theater.

Tickets are  available online at  tybeewinefestival.com.

Mandarin Art Festival 2010 – Jacksonville, Florida

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The Mandarin Community Club’s 42nd annual Mandarin Art Festival takes place on April 3 – 4, 2010. Over 100 locally and nationally known artists will set up their booths at clubhouse grounds at 12447 Mandarin Road during the Easter weekend.  There’s also a Children’s Art Show and a Green Market at the adjacent Billard Park.

Hours of operation: 10 Am to 5 PM both days
$ 1 admission at the gate

For the young ones, there’s an Egg Hunt at Walter Jones Historical park for children under 10 on Sunday at 1:30 pm. Bring your own baskets.

Related stories:

Watch our video from San Marco Arts Market in Jacksonville

First Friday’s on Gallery Row on Historic Broad in April – Charleston, SC

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“First Fridays on Broad” returns to Charleston, South Carolina, on Friday, April 2nd, from 5pm – 8pm. This event is hosted by The Broad Street Merchants Association who invites you to come out to “Celebrating Spring” by enjoying fine art and refreshments in the boutiques, fine art galleries, and bodegas on Gallery Row – Historic Broad Street.

Here’s what’s happening in April 2,  2010:

Hamlet Fine Art Gallery will be featuring a new series of non objective mixed media abstracts entitled “A New Life” by Stephanie Shuler Hamlet.

Ella Walton Richardson Gallery will be presenting “ Venetian Light” an upcoming exhibit by Evgeny and Lydia Baranov.

SCOOP is having a photography show, “Elements” with Stewart Young, Sandy Logan and Cyle Suesz.

COCO VIVO Fine Art and Interior Design will present new jewelry collections by two artists: Jennifer Mathews and Christine Peters Hamilton.

Edward Dare Gallery will feature a sneak preview of bronze and stone sculpture by Tom Player.   He is just as comfortable in bronze and iron as in terra cotta and stone.

Although he admits, “Bronze is my favorite medium, maybe because of its antiquity.   It intrigues me that the process has basically not changed since Michelangelo.” Player continues working with masters of his field, most recently with John Sisko at Brookgreen Gardens in SC. “Clients tell us this is one of their favorite monthly events,” and “Customers can relax while receiving individual and personalized attention as they browse the vast array of fine art, sculpture, jewelry, gifts, pottery, home accessories, and unique fashions on “Gallery Row on Historic Broad Street.”

Participating merchants include: Ellis-Nicholson Gallery, Hamlet Fine Art, Edward Dare Gallery, COCO VIVO, Mary Martin Fine Art, UTOPIA, Atmah Ja’s, Spencer Galleries, Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art, Martin Gallery, SCOOP Studios, Bernie Horton Gallery, Jake’s, Blind Tiger and the Oak Steak House.

For information visit  www.Charlestongalleryrow.com or call Stephanie Hamlet at 843-722-1944.

The Station – a dance performance by SCAD, Savannah

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The SCAD performing arts department will present the world premiere of a light-hearted dance production, “The Station,” conceived, directed and choreographed by SCAD performing arts professor Vincent Brosseau, with set design by Hal Tine and lighting by Robert Mond.

“The Station” will run Saturday, April 3 at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 4 at 3 p.m., and Monday, April 5 at 8 p.m. at Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St., Savannah, Georgia.

This fun-filled romp brings together more than 30 dancers. Act I features a number of characters in various scenes—sisters, lovers, soldiers, businessmen—as they wait at a train station for their train to arrive. Act II brings these characters back to the same train station years later, full of the hope, love or regret from the decisions they made at the station years before.

A graduate of The Juilliard School in New York, Brosseau danced the works of such renowned choreographers as Jose Limon, David Parson, Paul Taylor and Anna Sokolow. His television credits include the PBS special “Live from Lincoln Center” in which he performed in Paul Taylor’s “Cloven Kingdom.” Before coming to SCAD, Brousseau directed the modern dance company Brosseau Danceworks, based in Charlotte, N.C., for six years. At SCAD he has choreographed “Guys and Dolls” and “Carousel,” and created the dance pieces “Silence,” “Ripping Souls” and “The Crossing,” among others.

Admission to “The Station” is $5 for students, seniors and military; and $10 for the general public. Free with valid SCAD ID for the Monday, April 5 performance ONLY.

Tickets are available at the Trustees Theater box office, 216 E. Broughton St., online at www.savannahboxoffice.com, and by phone at 912.525.5050.
The Station - SCAD Performing Arts Dept in Savannah, GA