art | DBF returns for its third year at the 2015 AJC Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical (AJC DBF) with intimate theater performances that will take place among the author stages, presenting one-of-a-kind shows inspired by literary giants and new favorites.
Running concurrently at the AJC DBF Sept. 4–6, art | DBF showcases the arts and culture
community of Decatur and surrounding Atlanta area and is curated by Atlanta PlanIt, metro Atlanta’s online guide to arts and cultural entertainment. In addition to the indoor performances, art | DBF reaches beyond the walls to bring live art to the festival grounds. The Decatur Square plaza becomes an art neighborhood with live performances on the Community Bandstand, an information hub to learn about local arts organizations and more.
Atlanta PlanIt Operations Manager Kimberly Harbrecht said this year’s lineup is designed so that almost everything has a literary connection. That will include an Atlanta History Center group’s performance of a play based on the life of author Margaret Mitchell set on the eve of the release of Gone with the Wind entitled Tomorrow Is Another Day. It also will include discussions by members of ArtsATL, the website that covers Atlanta’s local arts scene, about Nexus Press and Decatur Arts Alliance’s display of The Book as Art.
“Our goal was really to tie in the performing arts with literature,” said Harbrecht, who will oversee art | DBF. “We’re very excited about the range of activities that we have for people of all ages and tastes when it comes to the arts.”
The highlights include:
Children’s programming at the Community Bandstand each morning. On Saturday, Serenbe Playhouse will perform The Secret Garden, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s book about a lonely orphaned girl sent to a mansion in the English countryside where she discovers a mysterious, abandoned garden. Also on Saturday, the singer-songwriter duo The Wishing Jar will give an acoustic lullaby performance and Imaginators from Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta learn what it takes to create a fairy tale of their own. On Sunday, actors from Synchronicity Theatre’s cast of Fancy Nancy, The Musical! will perform, as will storytellers from the High Museum. Families can bring a blanket and camp out for all of the shows.
Interactive performances include a Mahjong parlor on Sunday featuring actors from 7 Stages in the roles of characters from Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club, as they teach festival-goers how to play the game. Other activities will feature the Guerilla Haiku Movement and Soul Food Cypher. In a Guerilla Haiku event, festival attendees are given a map, a scavenger hunt and a bucket of sidewalk chalk and have a three-pronged mission to cover as much of the neighborhood as possible in haiku inspired by that neighborhood, to engage as many people as possible and to document it with photos. Soul Food Cypher’s mission is to showcase the positive aspects of rap through its events, programs and community outreach.
art | DBF also will feature roving and pop-up performances. Imperial Opa Circus will perform its version of The Great Gatsby and sidewalk chalk artist Katie Bush will recreate a famous book cover illustration.
For more information, visit www.artdbf.com.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical (AJC DBF) is the largest independent book festival in the country. Over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4-6) tens of thousands from metro Atlanta and beyond will share the historic Decatur Square with world-class authors, illustrators, editors, publishers and booksellers for a weekend filled with literature, music, food and fun. For more information, visit decaturbookfestival.com,“like” Decatur Book Festival on Facebook or follow @DBookFestival on Twitter.