The festival features concerts of varying musical genres at venues throughout downtown including free, all ages shows at the Winter Garden Plaza. Headliners Smackdab will perform there as well as Mikaela Davis, Miller & The Other Sinners, Workingman’s Dead, Porcelain Busdrivers, The Assembly, Emily Strong, St Vith, and more.

The Beer Snob and Jamestown Wine Cellar will host ticketed evening headliners that include Mungion, LITZ, Solar Circuit, Thee Audience, and more. These shows are 21 and over, and require a Whirlybird Pass or Cover Charge to enter.

Free pop-up solo performances will take place at the Jamestown Public Market, Pearl City Hops at DoubleTree, 4 Below Haggy’s Bar and Grill, Labyrinth Press Co, Brazil, and Crown Street Roasting Company.

For more information and tickets, visit www.whirlybirdfest.com.

Miki Girts of the Whirlybird Music & Arts Festival joins Anthony Merchant in the WRFA studios to discuss the 2022 Whirlybird Fest, the origins of the festival and Miki’s love for music, artists to expect on this years lineup, future goals for Whirlybird and much more

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www.instagram.com/whirlybirdfest
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Lynn says the Day-Long event is being held to help raise awareness about the drug addiction problem in the community.

“This city has never seen an event quite like this. I know that people want to bring awareness to the situation and I believe there is awareness, but we also want to bring solutions,” Chanda Lynn said during an interview with WRFA. “We want to tell people who show  up and are addicted, this is where you can go, this is the help we can get you today. You will hear stories about people overcoming their addictions. You will hear performers and musicians. But, most importantly, you will hear about solutions for this city and we want to let people know that we’ll make you aware of the issue but we’ll also provide a solution.”

• [LISTEN] Community Matters – Chanda Lynn Discusses Rally to Recover Jamestown

The rally will include speakers from across the country, food vendors and tables providing recovery information, and live music from Smackdab, Bill Ward, Amanda Barton, and REM One.

For more information about the event, go to the “Rally To Recover Jamestown” page on Facebook.

The festival is being held to celebrate art, music and environmental awareness. The event will be held along the north shore extension of the Riverwalk, which is located on the north side of the Chadakoin River.

The Riverwalk Festival is sponsored by Jamestown Now, Jamestown Renaissance Corporation, Southern Tier Brewing Company and Cummins.

The event is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and will continue to 5 p.m. with a live concert by Smackdab.

For more information visit the Jamestown Now Facebook Page or call 483-5772.

Image courtesy of Great Blue Heron Music Festival website, http://greatblueheron.com/wp/.

SHERMAN, NY – The Great Blue Heron Music Festival in Sherman will get underway on Friday with thousands of music fans expected to be on hand.

In recent years the Heron has featured more local acts from Chautauqua County and that continues this year.

Local performers scheduled to be on hand include Big Leg Emma, Smackdab, Sean Patrick McGraw, Bill Ward and Amanda Barton, Ken Hardley, The Bogarts, Uncle Claude’s Band, SYMBA, Qwister, the Elektra Kings and more.

Other featured acts include Donna the Buffalo, the Town Pants, Driftwood, Los Straitjackets, Jimkata, and Big Mean Sound Machine – which is making its Great Blue Heron Debut.

A complete lineup of musical acts can be found online at the Blue Heron website.

The great blue heron begins Friday and wraps up on Sunday.

Weekend passes are $80 through Thursday, and $90 at the gate. Daily tickets are available at the gate only: $40 for Friday or Saturday and $30 for Sunday.

For online tickets and more info: http://greatblueheron.com/wp/

The event will include races on both Saturday and Sunday, an attempt at breaking the world record for most people grape stomping and an appearance by legendary comedian and actor Bob Newhart. Plus, there will be a variety of other activities that tie in with the weekend-long event.

The event is being sponsored Univera Healthcare and coordinated by the Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy, Chautauqua Striders and the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. Lucy-Desi Center executive Director Journey Gunderson says she is obviously excited to have a legend like Newhart come to Jamestown on Saturday night.

“The coolest part of everyone’s reaction is that they’re excited to see someone who they consider one of the most iconic comedy legends in American history,” Gunderson recently told WRFA. “And young people know him from The Big Bang Theory – we’ve heard young people tell us, ‘I love [Newhart’s character] Professor Proton!’ So that is something I didn’t necessarily expect but have been excited to see. It’s a really cool thing to see that the audience is really going to range in people who knew him from Bob Newhart, his TV show in the 70s and 80s, to people who know him from his 2013 Emmy Award-Winning performances on The Big Bang Theory.”

Bob Newhart will return to Jamestown on Oct. 10, 2014.

Gunderson says this will actually be Newhart’s second appearance in Jamestown. He was also in town in 1996 for the Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy celebration.

A limited number of tickets for the Bob Newhart show at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts on Saturday night are still available and can be purchased by visting www.lucyrace.com or by calling 484-0800. They can also be purchased at the Reg Lenna box office.

The weekend will also include an effort to break the world record for most people grape stomping in one location. Gunderson said that this is simply a fun way to celebrate Lucy and one of her most memorable scenes on television.

“Jamestown received so much positive press from the 2011 Guinness World Record of the most people dressed as Lucy Ricardo so its’ always been in the back of our minds and not the forefront certainly to break records, but to celebrate comedy, so we looked at it that way,” Gunderson said. “We wanted to celebrate one of the most iconic comedy scenes in television history – so many people celebrate the scene when Lucy stomps grapes in that classic I Love Lucy episode… and also celebrate that we are in the largest grape-growing region east of the Rockies.”

The current record for most people grape stomping is 970 and was set in Spain. However, Gunderson is confident that that the new record will be set this Saturday, starting at 11am. The grape stomping will take place on W. Second St. near the Jamestown Gateway Train Station. Everyone is encouraged to stop by and register to take part up to the start of the event.

And of course the main purpose of the event this weekend is the 5K race on Saturday along with the half-marathon on Sunday. This is the second year for both events and Gunderson says registration this year has already surpassed last year. And even if you don’t plan to run, Gunderson is encouraging all residents to come out on Sunday and cheer on the runners and celebrate in the post-race activities, which include a live concert from Jamestown’s own Smackdab – beginning at 11 a.m. Sunday in front of the Ice Arena.

Another event this weekend that ties in with the Lucytown Half Marathon and 5K run is hockey at the Ice Arena, which features the Southern Tier Xpress taking on the Pittsburgh Vengeance Saturday afternoon.

For more information on all the events, visit www.lucyrace.com or by calling 484-0800.

WRFA’s interview with Journey Gunderson, regarding the 2014 Lucy Town Half Marathon, will take place Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. on WRFA.

[WRFA’s Jason Sample interviews Shane Hawkins from Infinity during a recent episode of Arts on Fire]

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. – Local music fans will once again descend upon downtown Jamestown to show their support for music and arts education in Chautauqua County. The eleventh annual Local Music Showcase (LMS) is set to take place on Saturday, Sept. 6 at ten participating venues with all proceeds once again going to Infinity Visual and Performing Arts.

“LMS is our biggest fundraiser of the year, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to support instruction costs at Infinity,” explains Infinity Executive Director Shane Hawkins.

This year, the fundraiser is even more important than any other year. In October 2014, Infinity plans to begin their new program year in a new, larger location in the ground floor of the Lynn Building, 301 E. 2nd St., Jamestown, NY. The renovation’s budget for the new Infinity Center is $222,000. Updates and more information about the progress and capital campaign for the renovation project can be found at wwww.Infinity2014.com.

Hawkins adds that each year LMS is only made possible through collaboration between local businesses, musicians and volunteers.

“This event would not be possible without the support of the local venues, business owners, local musicians, sound technicians and the team of over 60 volunteers that donate their time each year to make this event possible.” Hawkins says. “All of the ten participating venues this year and many of the performers and volunteers have been strong supporters of LMS every year. It’s a wonderful community effort to support arts education and local music, and a terrific night of local entertainment.”

Because LMS is the program’s single biggest fundraiser of the year, Hawkins says support from the entire community is crucial, especially with repeated and wide spread funding cuts to arts and youth programs the past few years.

“It’s important that the community understand that much of our program relies on donations and fundraising efforts like this one,” says Hawkins. “Currently, just .2 percent of our operating budget comes from government-related sources, while nearly ten percent comes from fundraising events like LMS. Attending fundraising events, or supporting Infinity with a tax-deductible donation helps us continue to make this wonderful program and network of mentors available to more of our community’s children.”

The cost to attend LMS is $10, which will pay for an all-access wristband that allows attendees admittance into any and all participating venues. Pre-sale event tickets can be purchased at Infinity Visual and Performing Arts Center at 115 3rd Street and exchanged for wristbands the evening of the event. Wristbands can also be purchased the evening of the event at participating venues.

Infinity is also seeking volunteers to help out for a couple of hours at various venues. Anyone who volunteers gets a pass for the entire event. For more information on the event or to volunteer, call (716) 664-0991 or visit www.infinityperformingarts.org.

THE LINEUP

Brazil
6:00- Alex Kates
7:00- Rob & Karen Suber
8:00- Doc & Bill
9:00- Davis & Eng
10:00- 6 to 12

Cibo
9:30- Bill Ward & Amanda Barton
10:30- The New Tenants
11:30- Skeletons
12:30- Ryan Kinal

Forte
10:30- Velvet Cabbies
11:40- John C. Merino
12:50- Gary & Jay

Infinity
6:15- Jake & Sarah
7:15- Infinity Saxophone Ensemble
8:00- Collective Groove

Jamestown Skate Products
6:00- Buddy McGrupp
7:15- DJ 80n3 feat. M-Dro
8:30- Little Sea Bird
9:45- WAKE
10:25- Plug

Mojo’s
6:00 – Reverend Adam and The Smooth Cruisers
7:15- The Distractions
8:30- The Elektra Kings
9:45- We Speak Canadian
11:15- Uncle Claud’s Band
12:45- Blind Society

Shawbucks
9:00- Qwister
10:00- Big Leg Emma
11:00- The Bogarts
12:00- Thee Audience
1:00- Smackdab

Studio Theater
6:00- Stephanie Benson
7:15- Amanda & Sara the Greatest
8:30- Sean Lander
9:45- Dalton Lanphere
11:00- Joshua Reuter

The Pub
6:15- Dave McDonald
7:10- Andy White
8:05- Steel Rails
9:00- Will & Sara
9:55- Adam Gould
10:50- Ben Bracey
11:45- Kris Meekins
12:40- Tony Flint

Wine Cellar
7:15- Ryan Melquist
8:30- Cindy Love
9:45- William Petransky
11:00- Brian Hanna and Scott Horton
12:15- Joey Cobra

ABOUT LMS: The Chautauqua Region Word newspaper organized the first Local Music Showcase, which was held in 2004 in Bemus Point, N.Y. In 2006, the event was moved to downtown Jamestown to accommodate the increased number of bands and musicians who were interested participating. All proceeds collected from the benefit have gone directly to fund arts education at Infinity Visual and Performing Arts, Inc.

ABOUT INFINITY: Infinity Visual and Performing Arts, Inc. is dedicated to building the resiliency of our community’s youth by providing unique opportunity through access to the arts. More than a place, more than a program, Infinity is a chance for youth to become immersed in arts and learning, to take creative risks, and to discover their infinite potential. To learn more or to donate, visit www.infinityperformingarts.org.