North America agenda: Coachella, Boston Marathon
Spring rocks out at music events starting with the Coachella Festival, Rock Hall of Fame induction and Record Store Day.
13th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 13-15 and April 20-22
Indio, California, USA
More than 100,000 music fans head to the Southern California desert for the annual Coachella Festival. In the decade since launching, the multi-stage event has grown in size and acclaim and is considered the opener of the summer festival season, adding another weekend in 2012. Artists in the line-up cover pop, rock, electronica and hip-hop genres and this year's headliners include Radiohead, The Black Keys, Bon Iver and Snoop Dog. Bonnaro and Lollapolooza are the two other big US pop musical events.
http://www.coachella.com
27th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
April 14
Cleveland, Ohio
Presentations to legendary pop, rock and R&B musicians and industry greats at this ceremony located at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. This year's inductees include Guns N'Roses, Donovan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Faces, Beastie Boys, Lauri Nyro, and The Miracles. A week of activities for fans precede the event with a grand finale jam session of the latest Hall of Famers.
http://www.rockhall.com
116th Boston Marathon
April 16
Boston, Massachusetts
Held since 1897, the Boston Marathon is the oldest annual modern-day marathon in the world. Inspired by the 1896 Olympics, it is one of five World Marathon Majors along with Berlin, London, Chicago and New York City. The competition drew almost 27,000 amateur and professional runners worldwide in 2011 and attracts half a million spectators to the challenging 26.22 miles (42.195 km) course. Returning champion, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya, won in a time of 2:03:02, the fastest marathon ever run.
http://www.baa.org
11th Tribeca Film Festival
April 18-29-May 1
New York City, New York
Co-founded by Robert DeNiro, this event screens 135 narrative, documentaries and short films from American and international filmmakers in venues around town, as well as streaming and video-on-demand, reaching beyond the 400,000 attendees. With galas and awards, this spring event has eclipsed Lincoln Center's New York Film Festival in fall.
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org
Star Wars: Identities
April 19-September 16
Montreal Science Center
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
In association with Lucasfilms, scientific experts and the team that mounted the Indiana Jones exhibition, the identity of characters from the Star Wars films, 1977 to 2005, is the theme explored in this show. Displays of 200 objects from Lucasfilms' archives of props, models and artwork, include Darth Vader's caped costume and a full-sized Podracer. The interactive experience explores Jedi heroes, Luke and Skywalker, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Yoda, and more, allowing visitors to create their own character.
http://www.starwarsidentities.com and http://www.montrealsciencecentre.com
55th San Francisco International Film Festival
April 19-May 3
San Francisco, California
America's longest-running film fest, SFIFF screens 200 films and presents live events with 200 filmmakers in conversations, workshops and salons, attracting more than 75,000 attendees. The Film Society also presents several awards including the Persistence of Vision and Golden Gate award to renowned filmmakers. A festival favorite is a special screening accompanied by a live musical performance. Other big spring film festivals in the US include Tribeca in New York, Seattle and SXSW in Austin.
http://festival.sffs.org/
5th Record Store Day
April 21
Worldwide
Record Store Day is an annual day-long celebration on the third Saturday of April in support of independent records shops worldwide. The event has broken vinyl record sales and each store hosts in-store performances, signings, meet & greets, DJ spinning and special product releases. This year's "ambassador" is Iggy Pop, who says, "Small indie shops have always been a mix of theater and laboratory."
http://www.recordstoreday.com
42nd Earth Day
April 22
Worldwide
This April 22 the 2012 theme is ‘Mobilize the Earth' with one billion people participating in endless events and acts of green to garner political action for climate change, from pollution and deforestation to energy efficiency. Speeches and musical acts perform on the National Mall to raise a voice to government. It is followed by June 5, World Environment Day, designated by the UN since 1973 with the same agenda. http://www.earthday.org
20th Hot Docs Festival
April 26-May 6
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The Canadian International Documentary Film Festival is North America's largest documentary festival and conference, presenting more than 150 cutting-edge films from around the globe. The event features workshops and a distribution market, attracting 2,000 attendees and filmmakers to screenings, special events, a curated competition, world showcases, pop culture, and retrospective of a master filmmaker. A prevalent theme will inform the selections and the topics discussed.
http://www.hotdocs.ca/
43rd New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
April 27-May 6
New Orleans, Louisiana
A 10-day cultural feast filled with thousands of musicians and an audience of 400,000 enjoying music on 12 stages, spanning genres from blues to R&B and African to Latin. Artists have included Senegal's Youssou N'Dour to Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Connick Jr. and B.B. King. Arts, crafts and cuisine are also features of this hybrid fair combining the Mardi Gras spirit and summer jazz fests around the world.
http://www.nojazzfest.com
2nd Comedy Awards
April 28
New York City, NY
The satellite/cable channel Comedy Central hosts the second Comedy Awards to pay tribute to funniest folks in film, television, stand-up comics and animation, with a special award going to an iconic talent. An illustrious jury selects the nominees, and industry heavyweights vote but fans get to cast choices for the ‘Breakout Performer of the Year' on the website. The event is taped in New York and airs on the network May 6.
http://www.thecomedyawards.com
16th Webby Awards
May 1 (online May 21)
New York, New York
An international prize for the best of the internet for websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, mobile and apps. Each of the 100 categories gets a Webby, awarded by the 1000-member academy, including David Bowie and Richard Branson, and The People’s Voice award. More than 10,000 entries come from over 60 countries with over 2 billion media impressions. Past winners have included Google, Twitter, Flickr and iTunes. Winners announced May 1 and the awards gala will be streamed live gala May 21 featuring the signature 5-word speeches and performances.
http://www.webbyawards.com
16th CONTACT 2012/Toronto Photography Festival
May 1-31
Toronto, Canada
CONTACT is the world's largest annual photography event. It attracts more than 1,500,000 visitors each year. The month-long festival is organized in collaboration with 200+ galleries throughout Toronto and comprises exhibitions of more than 1,000 photographers' works, also at museums and in public installations. 2012's theme, Public, explores social and political issues and the public performance of identity. It will also be the subject of lectures, workshops and films.
http://www.contactphoto.com
Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape
May 6-August 12
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
One of the most influential modern artists of the last century, this show of 120 paintings, drawings, sculptures and print works emphasizes the Spanish artist's variety of visual styles, including Fauvism and Surrealism, and his political engagement. Organized by the Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona, the show arrives from the Tate Modern.
http://nga.gov
23rd James Beard Foundation Awards
May 4 and 7
New York City, NY
Considered the "Oscars" of the US culinary world, this annual ceremony at Lincoln Center recognizes the "best and brightest" in the US culinary world, including chefs, restaurateurs and restaurant designers. The gala gastronomic event, begun by chef and food writer James Beard, also presents a book, television and journalism awards dinner.
http://www.jamesbeard.org/
Roy Lichtenstein
May 16–September 3
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
This exhibition of leading Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein shows more than 130 paintings and sculptures, plus 30 rarely seen drawings and collages covering all periods spanning the artist’s career. Beyond his iconic Pop art paintings, the show includes war cartoon paintings, late nudes, and Chinese landscapes, following his versions of Cubism, Surrealism and German Expressionism and use of alternative media.
http://www.artic.edu/
38th Seattle International Film Festival
May 17–June 10
Seattle, Washington
The largest and most highly attended film festival in the U.S., the event screens more than 400 films from over 60 countries for 150,000 attendees in venues across the city. The organizers present the Golden Space Needle Awards to films that are in the juried competition as well as the Audience Award for Best Film, Documentary, Director, Actor and Short Film. This year, the comedy Your Sister’s Sister starring Emily Blunt opens the three-week long festival.
http://www.siff.net/festival/
24th International Contemporary Furniture Fair
May 19-22
Jacob Javits Convention Center
New York City, New York
The latest trends in home design are on display at ICFF with 550 exhibitors from 27 countries showcasing seating, light fixtures, textiles, carpets and more with 25,000 designers, retailers, architects and manufacturers. Special events include designboom.com, Europe’s leading design e-zine, hosting a bazaar with participating designers’ products. Public Day is May 22. The largest design fair in North America is comparable to Frankfort’s Tendence and Singapore’s fair in Asia.
http://www.icff.com/
2012 Billboard Music Awards
May 22
Las Vegas, Nevada
All-star performances, presenters and appearances make the Billboard magazines awards in Las Vegas a big party. Winners in 46 categories will be honored based on Billboard's chart performance, long-considered the industry standard in the US, and including social media activity. In 2011 the show, airing on ABC-TV, returned to television after a hiatus since 2007. Other comparable music awards include the Grammys, Canada's Junos and the Brit Awards.
http://www.Billboard.com/BBMA
36th Spoleto Festival USA
May 25-June 10
Charleston, South Carolina
The official companion festival to Festival dei due Mondi (The Festival of Two Worlds) in Spoleto, Italy, this 17-day American counterpart is one of the top cultural events in the country. More than 120 performances showcase emerging artists and world-renowned talent in dance, theater, visual arts and music, from classical to jazz and genre-bending concerts. The festival produces its own opera annually and premieres ground-breaking performances.
http://spoletousa.org
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