The tent is up for the ninth annual Festival of the Arts BOCA, opening Friday in the Mizner Park Amphitheater with the re-mastered film “West Side Story” and the Leonard Bernstein score played by a full symphony orchestra.
The late composer’s daughter Jamie Bernstein kicks off the festival with a pre-event at 7 tonight, to talk about her famous father and his music in the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center.
Four more performances will feature ballet and banjos this weekend, and flautist Sir James Galway and Beethoven’s Ninth next weekend. Seven nationally known authors, including Pulitzer Prize winners, will talk about their books in the festival’s Authors & Ideas programs. The festival runs through March 15 and tickets are $15 to $125 at festivalboca.com or 866-571-2787.
“We have significant ticket sales accelerating, especially for ‘West Side Story,’ and we’re seeing an uptick already,” festival chairman and co-producer Charlie Siemon said. As word spreads about performers, “history will prove itself once again with the Mozart concert with Galway and Arnaud Sussmann, [violinist] Itzhak Perlman’s protégé.” Perlman was the headliner last year.
“Friedman’s unbelievable and selling like crazy, so if you want a good seat that’s the one you need to hurry,” Cynthia P. Brown, chairwoman of Authors & Ideas, said about Thomas Friedman.
“One of the things I’m really most proud of is the breadth of presentations,” Brown said. She particularly cited Michael Grunwald’s talk on his Everglades book March 12 and Clive Thompson’s on technology March 10. “Girls Rising,” a documentary on nine girls who faced obstacles to learning and voiced by Meryl Streep and Selena Gomez, among others, will be shown and discussed at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The tent actually went up in mid-February, covering events in the amphitheater through April 5. “Festival events go on rain or shine, and typically we’ve been lucky with the weather in March, but it keeps the seats dry,” said Chrissy Biagiotti, the city’s community relations manager. “The festival is under cover, but I would suggest making sure you have a jacket or sweater. They have reserved seats, but there are no bad seats in the house.”
The festival has the city’s OK to use the Delray Beach Downtowner electric carts company, after Siemon appealed to City Council.
“I think the city concurs with the vendor that, as explained, the operation meets city ordinances and they can start whenever they want,” said Assistant City Manager Mike Woika.
Some patrons have been using Uber for drop-offs, Biagiotti said.
The festival is managing VIP parking in the lot next to the amphitheater and there will be free or low-cost overflow parking at First United Methodist Church, 625 NE Mizner Blvd., she added. Otherwise there are free garages, paid valets and meters and free off-premise parking at City Hall and the old Downtown Library.
She suggested festival goers come to Mizner Park early to avoid seasonal traffic. The Dubliner, Kapow Noodle Bar and Villagio Ristorante are offering 15 percent off checks. Jazziz Nightlife and Max’s Grille have other discounts March 6 through 15, according a festival release.
Horn and motorcycle noise has also been an issue.
“The beauty of having the festival in the amphitheater is, it’s an outdoor experience which makes it special; but because it’s outdoors we can’t control the trains, planes and automobiles,” Biagiotti said. “We would appreciate patience…out of courtesy for the performers. It does get crowded and people do have to wait.”
