‘Night Fall,’ the annual artistic autumn celebration, brings more color, more pageantry and more stories to Bushnell Park

“Night Fall” has brought its colorful mix of masks, music and more to Hartford area parks in autumn every year for over a decade. The performance blends pageantry, puppetry, mime, music, dance, movement, comedy and the visual arts into one grand, imaginative seasonal event.

This year’s performance will descend on Bushnell Park on Oct. 7.

The shows change every year, and so does the park it is performed in. It’s a community-affirming celebration of the season but also a celebration of the parks and outdoor opportunities in the area. This is only the second time it has been done in Bushnell Park (The first was in 2017). In previous years, it was performed in Elizabeth Park, Colt Park, Keney Park and Pope Park.

The biggest change this year is that the show is now being developed through a more collaborative artistic model, with multiple directors and heavy input from the performers.. The new process is largely due to “Night Fall” founder and artist Anne Cubberly, whose giant puppets and costumes provide the main visual style for the event. She is stepping back from her role as the project’s artistic director, though she is continuing to design puppets and sets.

The multi-director framework also evolved from new procedures put in place during the COVID years. In 2020, “Night Fall” was a virtual production developed in sections, and subsequent years have continued to foster that way of working.

Despite the changes, the plot of “Night Fall” remains the same: A community’s reaction to the coming of autumn. Food is gathered by forest critters. Celestial beings represent days getting shorter. Animal characters have ranged from bees to bears and the performers are larger-than-life puppets or costumed actors.

Dejé and Devé-Ann Bennett have been involved with “Night Fall” for almost a decade. The sisters have performed as monkeys, squirrels and other animals but have been particularly active behind the scenes. This year, they’re co-leading one of the teams creating the scenes for the show. They are both directing and choreographing their segment, with Dejé Bennett onstage as a puppeteer and Deve-Ann Bennett helping out backstage during the performance.

“Now, there’s more than just one dream or artistry coming together,” Dejé Bennett said.

“We’re able to add more styles,” Deve-Ann Bennett added. “There are different points of view, different stories.” Some scenes have gotten more colorful or move differently, according to the Bennett sisters. They also said there is an all-new original music score this year, plus a few new puppets.

“It’s also a celebration of Anne and all the work she’s done all these years,” Devé-Ann Bennett said. “Some of it is new, but it is also a traditional ‘Night Fall.’ It has been around for over 10 years now. The past few years have been hard, so we’re celebrating all these artists.”

The Bennett sisters bring a wealth of performance experience to the performance. They run Dejavé Dance Company in Hartford, a dance school for children and teens, some of whom perform in the event. While they were in rehearsals for “Night Fall,” they were also leading their company to win national titles at a dance competition in Orlando, Florida. They have also developed immersive programs that connect the arts with social studies and science education.

The lead directors of other scenes in “Night Fall” also hail from local arts groups: The married team of Greg Ludovici and Julia Pistell are key members of Sea Tea Improv and its Sea Tea Comedy Theater space, as is local comedian/theater artist Casey Grambo. Loren Denise has worked with several local dance companies. The other leaders are composers that include Hartt School grad Kyle Grimm and Ym Myla Neaj.

The cast, some of whom have been with “Night Fall” since the beginning, include most of the co-directors (everyone but Grambo and Grimm) plus Jazmin Adams, Gianna DiMaiolo, Jonathan Domenech, C.S. Dunn, Amanda Duvall, Zuri Freeman, Tianna Glass-Tripp, dancer/performer Jakar “WizDom” Hankerson, Matthew Benjamin Horowitz, Dyjah Hunter, Tatyana Johnson, Savana Jones, Samone Jones-McCarthy, Kunzika, Aliyah Lambright, Stephanie Moreland, Brianna Navedo, Erica Nelson, Jason Ramos, Jonathan Rincon, Jessie Robie, Akira Rodriguez, Julie Sawtelles (of the Connecticut rock duo The Sawtelles), Claire Sickinger and theater artist Hannah Simms.

Some of the “Night Fall” performers provided a sort of preview when they cavorted as squirrels in Bushnell Park a few weeks ago, sharing a nut with visiting giant puppet Little Amal, whose immigration-themed strolls through cities have made her a global phenomenon. The squirrels will return to the same park on Saturday, but this time as the main event, heralding autumn in Hartford.

Admission is free. The performance starts at 6 p.m. but related events begin at 2 p.m. with art activities, info booths from community organizations, food trucks, vendors and more. Picnicking is encouraged, and it is recommended that attendees bring blankets and lawn chairs to watch the performance. Since environmental consciousness is a big theme of “Night Fall,” the organizers suggest using bicycles, scooters, public transit, carpooling or just walking to get to the show.

“Night Fall” takes place Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. at Bushnell Park in Hartford. For more information, go to nightfallhartford.org.