FESTIVAL UNBOUND Returns September 2021

Touchstone Theatre opens its 2021-22 season with the third edition of Festival UnBound, a five-day celebration (September 29-October 3, 2021) of visual arts, live music, participatory dance, original theatre, and community dialogue shaped by Lehigh Valley community members for a unique, hyper-local festival going experience.

Festival UnBound takes place at venues throughout Bethlehem and includes a pre-festival weekend featuring original performances by Touchstone/Moravian MFA students September 17-18. Attendance is free for all events, which include work by Touchstone, local artists and organizers, and acclaimed guest artists from beyond the Lehigh Valley.

The first year of Festival UnBound took place in October 2019, twenty years after the closing of Bethlehem Steel, a massively impactful and traumatic event for the community. In the years since the closing of the Steel, Touchstone began to explore questions of community and identity: Who were we, now that the Steel was gone? What were the challenges ahead, and what were the values that hold us together as we shape our future? Out of these questions came the inaugural ten-day Festival UnBound that centered on themes of diversity, sustainability, health, youth leadership, and interconnectedness.

Last year, in an extraordinary 2020, the festival and the conversation it started continued with adaptations for COVID-19 safety. It premiered with a live outdoor concert in July featuring musicians from the Lehigh Valley Song Project initiative, a project based around the creation of the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Emmy nominated music video and original song "Lehigh Valley be Free". The festival ran throughout the fall, featuring weekly events taking place outdoors in Touchstone's parking lot, as well as livestreams and rebroadcasts of festival events so that audiences could also watch the festival from home.

"It's fulfilling to see the various initiatives started in year one of the festival grow and take shape in different and deeper ways in the third year," says artistic director Jp Jordan. "You can look at the accomplishments of UnBound's Homecoming and Latinx Leadership Committees to see how these recurring events can really bring people to the table and build a stronger community. It's also very exciting to bring new partners into the fold, such as our first of hopefully many collaborations with the Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley."

This year's festival is scheduled to return to fully in-person events, many of them still outdoors, in the form of plays, discussions, dance parties, jam sessions, and other participatory art. Touchstone is continuing to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and will provide updated safety protocols and information prior to the start of the festival. All events are free to attend, with donations gratefully accepted to help continue the ongoing work; reservations are encouraged.

This year's festival lineup includes:

• The Frontera Project - A Border is a limit. But it also suggests possibility - a chance to approach someone on the other side. Guest artists from Mexico and the US present The Frontera Project, a unique, bilingual, interactive experience that uses theatre, movement, music, and play to engage in a compassionate, often joyous conversation about the Border. September 29 at 8pm; Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• Community Conversations - A noon-time series at Cafe the Lodge, allowing for a deeper dive into discussions of festival themes, with conversations over a meal, moderated by Moravian University professor and Touchstone Ensemble member Christopher Shorr. September 29-October 1 at 12pm; Café the Lodge, 427 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem. Free; food available for purchase.
• Artist in Residence Anne Labovitz - Special guest artist Anne Labovitz brings her I Love You Institute preshow of each festival event, where she'll guide audience members through the creation of a Community Quilt, inspired by the prompt of "What are you grateful for?" The residency will culminate in a colorful piece of visual art symbolizing our communal gratitude and coming together at the Closing Ceremony.
• East Meets West: An Evening of Indian Dance - A joyful and uplifting evening of Indian dance, celebrating the community! Get up on your feet and join in the dance as our friends from the Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley lead us in learning Bollywood and Garba folk dance. September 30 at 7pm; Touchstone's outdoor Barrio Stage - 321 East 4th Street, Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• Bombazo - Join us for a participatory celebration of Latinx culture - a community jam session or bombazo! Bring your musical instruments, or borrow one of ours. Play along, sing along, or just kick back and enjoy the food, friendship, and fiesta. October 1 at 7pm; Touchstone's outdoor Barrio Stage - 321 East 4th Street, Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• Mending the Food Chain - Partnering with the Bethlehem Food Co-op, friends from Afros in Nature, and youth from the Bethlehem Area School District, a morning of performance, conversation, and an artful weaving of our hopes and aspirations into a more informed and harmonious chain of life. October 2 at 10am; Esperanza Garden, South Bethlehem Greenway between Taylor and Webster streets; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• (re)Making Our World - Experience the power of art nourished by the intersectional disability arts movement. Engaging works include films highlighting acclaimed dance ensemble Kinetic Light, a visual arts exhibition, and a theatrical performance examining questions of aging and independence. October 2 at 1-4pm; Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• Homecoming: Black Women Speak - For far too long, the voices of Black women have been silenced; this year's Homecoming looks to the brave souls and wisdom keepers who, despite disrespect and disparaging comments, persevered and said to the world "I am somebody." October 2 at 5pm; Touchstone's outdoor Barrio Stage - 321 East 4th Street, Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• Devotional Gathering - For those of any religion, or no religion, a dialogue of poetry, music, and gratitude - as we do the work of advancing the realization of a home that is ever more beautiful, compassionate, joyful, and just. October 3 at 10am; Touchstone's outdoor Barrio Stage - 321 East 4th Street, Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.
• Closing Celebration - A kaleidoscope of color, sound, taste, and connection, featuring community-created artwork; conversations with local farmers, organizers, and others about what is sustainable; a joyful noise celebration by community singers; and a closing processional to the river where we will cast our hopes and dreams out on the water to seed joy in the future. October 3 at 2pm; Sand Island Park 56 River St., Bethlehem; Tickets: Free with donations gratefully accepted.

Fundraising for Festival UnBound is ongoing, but to date, Festival sponsors include Gold Sponsor Air Products; Silver Sponsors: Keystone Savings Foundation, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, and PNC Foundation; and Bronze Sponsors: Amaranth Foundation, Verna O. Canova Foundation, and WDIY. The festival is also gratefully supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as numerous small businesses, local foundations, and individuals.

Touchstone Theatre's Festival UnBound takes place September 29-October 3, 2021 throughout Bethlehem, plus a pre-festival weekend featuring original performances by Touchstone/Moravian University MFA students September 17-18. More information at www.touchstone.org/festival-unbound.

To post a comment, you must register and login.