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They’ve played in New York’s subway, and in some 25 countries around the world.
On Saturday you’ll be able to hear Lucky Chops in downtown Wilkes-Barre, for free, when the band brings its brassy funk sound — provided by trombone and trumpet, tenor sax and tuba and such — to the city’s 64th annual Fine Arts Fiesta.
“It will be exciting; they have a great story, ” Fiesta executive director Brian Benedetti said, predicting the Fiesta crowd will thoroughly enjoy the headliner act, whose members have been playing together since they were students at Manhattan’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
Lucky Chops is scheduled to perform on the Fiesta’s main stage at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Earlier Saturday, another highlight of the main stage schedule is the Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble from Philadelphia, who will perform at 1 p.m. “They are such a dynamic group,” Benedetti said. “They have so much energy.”
The Fine Arts Fiesta also gives local performers — from school orchestras and choruses to dance ensembles — a chance to shine.
The schedule includes:
MAY 17, Main Stage
10 a.m. Wyoming Valley West Middle School Orchestra
11 a.m. Wyoming Valley West Middle School Chorus
Noon: Dallas Middle School Select Chorus
1 p.m. Dallas High School Concert Band
2 p.m. Cross Valley Combo
4 p.m. PATAsphere
5 p.m. Leadership Wilkes-Barre Learning with Books Little Free Library dedication
7 p.m. The Alexis P. Suter Band
May 18, Main Stage
11 a.m. Joan Harris Dance Center
Noon: The Conservatory of Dance
1 p.m. Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre
2 p.m. Kulu Mele African Dance & Drum Ensemble
4 p.m. Perfect Harmony Singers
5 p.m. The Anne Chairge School of Music
6:15 p.m. Rockology Music Academy
8 p.m. Lucky Chops
May 19, Main Stage
12:30 p.m. Rising Stars
1:30 p.m. YOUniversal Suzuki Strings
2:30 p.m. The Mozart Club
4 p.m. Dot Gov
The Osterhout Free Library schedule in the Family Activity Center tent includes:
May 17
Storytelling at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and make-and-take book mark crafts at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
May 18
Storytelling at 11 a.m, 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and make-and-take bookmarks at 1:30 p.m.
May 19
Storytelling at noon and 2:30 p.m. and make-and-take bookmarks at 12:#0 p.m.
Artists in residence include Tim Weaver demonstrating watercolor and painting on Public Square from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. today , from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday; and Robert Gaetano en plein air pastel drawing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Saturday.
Also, from 5 to 8 p.m. today, you can visit with artists Matthew Howell and Jennifer Brennan, whose work will be on display at 47 N. Franklin St., a short block away from the Fiesta. “She does papier mache, so she creates art by adding, and I carve, so I start with a block of wood and create art by subtracting,” Howell noted.