Boston College Arts Festival Kicks off Thursday

Starting tomorrow, the  Chestnut Hill campus will be jam-packed with artwork, music, theatre and fashion as the school kicks off the 14th annual Boston College Arts Festival.

The festival, which will run Thursday-Saturday (April 26-28), incorporates more than 1,000 student and faculty artists that will present various works of music, theater, dance, poetry, film, painting, and sculpture at more than 80 events. The events are all open to the community. 

Showcases and performances get started tomorrow at noon and will run until 11 p.m., with a new event every hour. Some higlights include:

• A Midsummer Night's Dream - Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m. at Robsham Theatre
• BC's Best (original student music) - Thursday, 8 p.m. on O'Neil Plaza
• Film Festival Friday (films by BC alumni) - Friday, 7:30 p.m. on O'Neil Plaza
• BC bOp! (An evening of Jazz and dance) - Saturday, 8 p.m. on O'Neil Plaza
• An arts award ceremony and celebration - Friday, 4 p.m. on O'Neil Plaza. The event will recognize accomplishments in the arts by BC students, faculty and alumni.
• Family-friendly events that will run noon - 5 p.m. on Saturday

In addition, an artist panel will be held tomorrow as part of the festival, and will include three artistic directors from various organizations that are all BC alumni. The participants include Tony Taccone (Class of 1972), artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, Kate Maguire (Class of 1978), artistic director and CEO of the Berkshire Theatre Group in Western Massachusetts, and Paul Daigneault (Class of 1987), producing artistic director of SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston.

The panel starts at 3 p.m. in Gasson Hall (Chestnut Hill campus) and is free and open to the public. 

This year's festival will also focus on a theme of arts and social responsibility, including programs on art therapy and a social justice film festival. (These programs are identified on the program with a green leaf).

For a full list of events -- with details, admission charges and a schedule -- check out the BC Arts Festival Pamphlet here.