‘We need to turn to the arts.’ Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest takes 3-day festival online

The Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest looks a bit different this summer. In its third year, the festival is being held entirely virtually Friday through Sunday.

Organizer and festival co-founder Cynthia Mazzant said that in discussions with participants and theater companies, they knew early on that live performances were going to be majorly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then the State College Borough canceled all events through June 30, when festival planning was already underway, she said.

“We kept hearing from friends, family and patrons that we need the arts, we need to turn to the arts,” she said. “So the decision was not to cancel, but to continue to find a way to provide programming, some of it live streamed, some of it pre-recorded.”

Since mid-April, Mazzant and her team have been coordinating with artists and performing groups to move the Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest to an online format, using platforms such as Facebook and Zoom. While the change has come with its fair share of challenges (Mazzant points out that some of the participating performers, more accustomed to in-person events, aren’t as well-versed in the tech required for recording and live streaming), a virtual festival does open doors for new festival offerings.

One such new offering is a daily morning update.

“At 9:30 in the morning, you’ll come join us for our morning edition of our virtual news, where we’ll livestream and talk to different people, including community members, and tell you what’s happening for the day, share a short piece of art and have a challenge,” Mazzant said.

The “festival challenges” are also new, and a way for the festival to engage community members directly, despite distance. Mazzant said she asked herself how they could continue to keep the festival a celebratory community event, while using online platforms, and the festival challenges were a way to do this. Attendees will be invited to sing, dance and make art in other ways and then submit videos of themselves for each challenge; then, the videos will be compiled and distributed over the festival’s three days.

“We want you to share with us the art you’re making at home,” she said.

The new virtual format, Mazzant said, has also allowed for artists to participate who may not have been able to in the past due to travel or cost, as now performing at the festival is as easy as turning on their computer or phone.

For example, she said, “Black Cat Belly Dance is now able to bring in a variety of artists for their concert, people from Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and they’re trying to set up an intimate setting ... doing Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and Egyptian folklore.”

In some instances, attendees will also now receive a behind-the-scenes look at performers’ lives and spaces, as they perform in their homes.

Attendees will be able to access the full schedule for each festival day on the festival website. Some events will require registration, but most events are free or donations-only. While live events take place at set times, some pre-recorded performances will be available throughout the duration of the festival.

As the festival’s performers come together to offer the mostly-free event to the community, Mazzant points out the importance of supporting the arts during this time.

“Performing artists have really stepped up at this time. ... Live performance artists with no venue right now also have no income right now,” she said. “Artists do this for a living and it’s important to recognize the value of what performing artists bring to a community. We immediately turn to our art and artists to help us in times like these, and everyone should be aware we may need to help them, too, moving forward.”

Find the full, three-day Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest schedule, with more than 70 events occurring over the three days and inclusive of more than 100 artists, at www.centralpatheatre.com/2020-fest.