Fine Arts Fiesta: Music and more begins May 16

MELISSA M. JANOSKI, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

The concert headliner for the 68th Fine Arts Fiesta is Michael Glabicki and the Rusted Root Uprooted Trio. The rock and soul artists will perform a free concert on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The annual festival is Thursday through Sunday. It is the oldest full-scale arts festival in Pennsylvania. Another musical highlight will be Wilkes-Barre band Elephants Dancing, performing Friday evening.

The multiplatinum band Rusted Root has been on hiatus for several years. On Saturday, Glabicki will play with Rusted Root guitar player and background vocalist, Dirk Miller; plus drummer and percussionist Ricky Petraglia.

Rusted Root’s hits include “Send Me On My Way,” “Martyr,” and “Ecstasy.” “Send Me On My Way” is familiar in part from movies, TV and commercials, including the movies “Matilda” and “Ice Age.”

Glabicki said they will play both hits and deep tracks from the band’s catalog and music from his upcoming solo album. The new material “is very vast,” he said. “From acoustic to full band, from funk to rock to dance music, to all kinds of stuff. Each song is a little different.”

Glabicki and other band members have performed locally in the past. “We love to play the area,” he said.

The Fine Arts Fiesta features music all four days, in addition to its displays of juried fine art, an artists’ marketplace, food and specialty vendors and children’s activities.

Daytime performances mostly highlight school and community performers. Thursday evening’s entertainment is by Dance Theatre of Wilkes Barre at 7:15 p.m. and Little Theater of Wilkes-Barre at 7:45. On Friday, the Northeastern Pennsylvania-based reggae and ska group Elephants Dancing will play at 7:30 p.m. They have toured the East Coast from Maine to Florida and released the full length album, Chill Like Penguins, last year. All Fine Arts Fiesta performances are free.

A new element this year is a haiku wall. All ages are encouraged to write a haiku for display on standard 3” x 5” white index cards. The poems will be preserved for a later Fine Arts Fiesta project. Contributors of all ages are welcome. They are encouraged, but not required, to sign their work. The classic Japanese form of poetry is three lines long and usually does not rhyme. Typically, every first line of haiku has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables and the third has five syllables.