Prescott Park Arts Festival's CAMP ENCORE! Returns This Summer

Prescott Park Arts Festival is preparing to celebrate its 50th year in the park this summer! Once again the Festival is offering its beloved educational program, Camp ENCORE! The Youth Theatre camp serves 100+ kids ages 7-17 each summer where they gain valuable teamwork skills while cultivating a love for theater arts. Each session culminates with a fully staged public performance on the Festival’s Wilcox Main Stage, helping to build confidence and community. 

In recent years the Arts Festival has reinvigorated the camp’s curriculum and approach to teaching, strengthening the overall emotional intelligence of the program while offering real, tangible experience in theatre. The results have been extremely successful, translating to the highest number of campers served in 2023 while continuing to receive high praise from campers and caregivers alike. 

“Last summer Camp ENCORE! was the most successful we’ve seen, from the campers’ feedback of their experiences to the outstanding quality performances on our Main Stage. We continue to be so incredibly proud of this program and look forward to seeing the park fill with the excitement of camp again this summer. Something new we are offering this year is more of an intensive experience for the teen musical theatre session. We added a second-week last summer, which was very well-received, so adding an extra layer of challenge for our amazing teen campers will be a meaningful step for our teen session. Camp ENCORE! is all about creating an intentional space that resonates with the Festival’s mission of accessibility, where everyone is truly welcome. Building that kind of community together through camp has made a hugely positive impact for the young people who help to create it with us,” shared Prescott Park Arts Festival Executive Director, Courtney Perkins.

This season Camp ENCORE! is delighted to offer its three long-standing musical theatre sessions, while adding a second week to a well-attended teen intensive. 

New in 2024! In response to feedback from last season, the Arts Festival will be making the teen session more of an INTENSIVE this year. Campers will audition in person during the first week of camp while also learning key “offstage” tools of the trade through workshops like resume building, audition techniques, and self-marketing as a performers. This is a great chance for teen campers to get an inside look at what it takes to be a performer in the musical theatre world both on and off the stage. 

The goal of Camp ENCORE! is to make every camper feel included and valued in the show and at camp. In addition to learning the musical, campers will explore the art of theatre through games, improvisational activities, and masterclasses from local artists about some of the backstage and onstage specialties of the performing arts. Scholarships are available through the Arts Festival and our partnership with #areuin? a KEY Collective program. The KEY Collective’s #areuin? card program gives kids from low-income families access to youth activities for free or at a reduced cost with no social stigma attached.

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