What is Festival of the Arts BOCA?

Welcome to Festival Beat. We hope you will check back regularly to hear about everything that is going on at Festival of the Arts BOCA and beyond! We will be giving you artist information and interviews, introduce you to the people who make the Festival happen and let you know about our social events. We will also be keeping you up to date on other events in our community plus local and national arts trends.

Festival of the Arts BOCA will take place February 23 - March 4, 2018. The line-up is as eclectic as it is exciting! Tickets will go on sale to the public on October 15, 2017.  This will be the 12^th annual Festival presented by the Schmidt Family Centre for the Arts. The Festival was designed to promote the cultural arts and to enrich the quality of life of the residents of Boca Raton, North Broward and Palm Beach County. The Festival is special, because of the venue, the season, the quality and diversity of its cultural offerings and because of the opportunity for young and old to celebrate the traditions of the great arts and to be exposed to the incredible diversity of the performing and literary arts, at the highest levels. The Festival is casual and welcomes people from every age and background. The party-like atmosphere enhances the community experience.

Since its inaugural year, the Festival has been an unprecedented cultural arts festival, and has been heralded as a resounding success, with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, Joshua Bell, Lang Lang, and Pat Metheny. Classic films like The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, West Side Story and Raiders of the Lost Ark have been performed with live orchestra. World-renowned speakers over the ten years have included Edward Albee, Sir Salman Rushdie, acclaimed historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, Daniel J. Levitin, Thomas Friedman, and Fareed Zakaria.

Festival of the Arts BOCA is also about cultural arts education - introducing new audiences to great music and exposing young people to the great artists in master classes and open rehearsals. The images are remarkable: Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway leading the best flute students in the region in a master class, Itzhak Perlman "doing a little Q & A" with students, two time Grammy Award nominee Joey Alexander playing two tunes with the Don Estridge High Tech. Middle School Jazz Band and physicist Brian Greene igniting the imaginations of students at West Boca Regional High School and throughout Palm Beach County via live streaming. The Festival continues its commitment to education, offering master classes, school visits, lectures and open rehearsals. We have reached over 10,000 area students to date. In addition, over 1,000 Festival tickets are donated to students and teachers every year.

At Festival of the Arts BOCA we believe that the arts can unite a community. In that spirit, we invite you to engage with us at Festival Beat. Let us know what you are thinking. Tell us about your cultural experiences. Ask us questions. Together we will build a great community!