4th Annual Gettysburg Fringe Festival
 Lineup Announced

"The Fringe" Features an Array of Local Events with Artistic Flair

(5/17) Between June 10 and 19, the 4th annual Gettysburg Fringe Festival will showcase local food, music, history and art with more than 40 diverse events, many of them free and open to the public, throughout Gettysburg and Adams County. The Fringe Festival is the community’s complement to The Gettysburg Festival, a simultaneous celebration of American arts, culture and cuisine during the 10-day period.

"The 2011 Gettysburg Fringe Festival highlights the abounding culture and depth of talent in the Gettysburg area," explains Gettysburg Fringe Festival Coordinator Phyllis Netherland. "All the events, from historic home and church tours to community bands and choruses, plus local cuisine, reflect Adams County’s thriving arts community. I invite the public, both residents and visitors alike, to enjoy ten full days of exciting community-related events."

New events slated for 2011 include a tour of Middlekauff Manor, a historic, Federal style home built in 1805. This completely restored home boasts 7 fireplaces, an original Pine Grove Franklin stove, a springhouse, carriage house and numerous artifact exhibits (June 12).

Another first-time, historical event is Celebrate the Arts at the Gettysburg Gift Center/American Civil War Museum featuring living history encampments, artist demonstrations, a photographic/historic tour of the battlefield and featured speakers. For example, Dr. Gary Grove will be on hand to discuss the topic: "What Would Lincoln Do? The Lincoln DNA Debate" (June 11-12; 18-19).

Fringe Festival culinary events include Cooking on the Fringe: Adams County Winery with Chef Daneyon White demonstrating how wine and fresh local ingredients come together for a five-course meal served under a tent at the farm winery (June 18). An Unexpected Treasure—Entertainment and Food from Different Cultures takes place at the Blue Parrot Bistro, featuring special Fringe Festival menus with a worldly flavor and entertainment to match (June 10-11; 16-18).

For the first time, the Pennsylvania Lavender Festival at nearby Willow Pond Farm offers fields of lavender for cutting, along with herbal talks and demonstrations, as part of the Gettysburg Fringe Festival (June 17-19).

Artistic Fringe events include hallowed Battlefield scenes and nature photography at J.D. Ridinger Studio Exhibition, Gaslight Inn, including a reception with the photographer (June 17-19). The Ragged Edge Coffeehouse is hosting a new artistic event, The Least of These: Portraits of a Third World Country, featuring portraits of children. Sales of the artwork benefit children in third world countries (June 10-19).

An entire day’s lineup of outdoor concerts benefit the non-profit Holiday Family Outreach in another new event for 2011, titled Holiday Family Outreach: Groove to Give (June 18). Outdoor events are also planned at Hope for the City, held at the Gateway Gettysburg Complex, and featuring inspiring Christian-based speakers, music and food (June 16-19).

"New events inject fresh ideas and creativity into the 2011 lineup," said Netherland. "At the same time, it’s a pleasure to work with many returning Fringe Festival events who are building an audience and wonderful successful history with the Fringe, for the third or fourth year."

Returning events include a concert by the Gettysburg Civic Chorus, the community’s oldest musical organization, presenting The Music in Us (June 13) and One More Time: Live Musical Ensemble performing on the front porch of the Gettysburg Hotel, Lincoln Square (June 11). Local bands Audacity and The Reilys, plus Staten Island’s the Earaches will perform at the Historic Gettysburg Railroad Pavilion for Classic Rock Band Fest 1 and 2 (June 14 and 17).

Many area non-profits have developed successful returning Fringe events: Art Market Sponsored by the Land Conservancy of Adams County, with numerous artisans, demonstrations, children’s storytelling and a pyrotechnics demonstration at the Adams County Agricultural and Natural Resource Center (June 11) and BarnArt Exhibition showcasing the agricultural beauty of barns and sponsored by Historic Gettysburg Adams County (June 10-11).

Downtown Gettysburg events include The Spirited Ladies Shoppe offering a full schedule of local artist exhibits, artisan demonstrations and a poetry reading by the Gettysburg Poetry Society (June 10-11; 16-18).

Events showcasing Gettysburg’s downtown churches include Historic Church Walking Tours of Gettysburg, meeting at the Presbyterian Church (June 15); Candlelight at Christ Church: Stories and Songs of a Civil War Hospital (June 18); A Procession Winding Around Me, featuring Walt Witman’s Civil War poetry set to moving choral music at Christ Lutheran Church (June 16).

Family-friendly events include Disney’s Camp Rock: The Musical at the Adams County School of Musical Theatre and featuring local youth (June 10-12), Pony Picnic by the Shining Stars Therapeutic Riding Center where you can actually dress up a pony and take pictures (June 10) and Music and Machines at the Historic Round Barn featuring Father’s Day favorites from antique tractors to live music, pit beef and ham (June 19).

One event spanning the entire length of the Gettysburg Fringe Festival is the Gettysburg Plein Air Paint Out, Exhibition and Sale. More than a dozen artists are gathering from throughout central Pennsylvania and Maryland to paint at numerous landmark locations such as the Battlefield, Eisenhower Farm and Sach’s Bridge. Works by the artists will be on display during the ten days at the Historic Gettysburg Railroad Station, with an artist reception including cookies and lemonade (June 19).

For additional information on all of the Gettysburg Fringe Festival events, please check www.gettysburgfestival.org or call 717-334-0853.

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