Ocrafolk Festival 2015 Performers, Sponsorships Announced . . . and more!

Greetings friends of Ocracoke Alive,

We have almost reached April 1st, and though the weather on Ocracoke alternates between lovely spring and blustery winter, Ocracoke Alive pushes on ahead as if fair sailing weather is right around the corner.  These past couple of weeks, a steady trickle of spring breakers popped up on the island as the local business owners yawn, stretch, and peer out of their windows and trying to decide if they should turn their signs to "Open." Here is what we have been up to!

Ocrafolk Festival Announces 2015 Performer Lineup, Entices Sponsors with Fabulous Rewards!

Click on this link to find out more how to become a sponsor.  Donations are tax-deductible.

June 5-7 will herald the 16th annual Ocrafolk Festival on Ocracoke Island. The flagship event of Ocracoke Alive is one of the most popular weekends for visitors, as word of the event spreads across North Carolina and beyond. Last year, Our State Magazine featured the event as a top ranked NC festival, and several years ago it was ranked as one of the top 10 Island Festivals in the world by Coastal Living Magazine.  The Ocrafolk Festival's unique setting, and Ocracoke Alive's attention to detail helps create a weekend that is treasured by visitor and resident alike. The festival features musicians, storytellers, artisans, and characters from the NC region and beyond.  Popular events include a Fish Fry, Squaredance, Art Auction, Paperhand Puppet Parade, Gospel Sing, Bluegrass Jam, and performances by over 27 groups that will make fans of folk music and storytelling swoon.

Sponsors are a critical component of bringing the Ocrafolk Festival to life each year. The sponsors' passion for preserving the event through their donations fuels almost half of the total cost of the weekend. And the Ocrafolk Festival staff works hard to create unique rewards that make contributors feel a special part of the event.  As a sponsor you can not only receive the usual festival T-shirts and media recognition, but also an invitation to an Admiralty Party aboard Ocracoke Alive's Skipjack Wilma Lee, pre-release tickets to limited seating events, passes to the Fish Fry, reserved parking near festival grounds, and Supporter Level Buttons that enter you in drawings all weekend. Best of all, your sponsorship helps make sure that this unique event continues for another year!

Ocrafolk Festival 2015 Announces Performer Lineup

Mipso

The Yes Team

Victor and Penny

Los Tarascos de Michoacan

Kaira Ba

Blue Eyed Bettys

We had a great time this winter finding new music for the Ocrafolk Festival 2015!  Groups making their debut this year include the Blue Eyed Bettys, Kaira Ba, Los Tarascos de Michoacan, Victor & Penny, Mahalo Jazz 2, and the Yes Team. Returning to the stage we have . . . festival hosts Molasses Creek, storyteller Donald Davis, Martin Garrish, Mipso, The Outliers, Donald Thompson Band, The Alberti Flea Circus, Paperhand Puppets, Craicdown, Jacob Johnson, The Green Grass Cloggers, Bob Zentz & Jeanne McDougal, John Golden, Louis Allen, Philip Howard, Capt. Rob Temple, Chainsaw Artist Clyde Jones, Jef the Mime, Ocrachicks, and more.


Find out more about the lineup at www.ocracokealive.org/performers.html

Arts Partnership Program Celebrates the First 9 Weeks of Artists in the Schools

On Friday, March 27, from 4-6 PM at the Down Creek Gallery on Ocracoke, Ocracoke Alive celebrated the first nine weeks of the Arts Partnership Program with a Student Art Show, featuring photographs, paper popups, tie-dye, fresh baked bread, recycled critters, and paper quilling created by students. The Ocracoke community gives a huge THANK YOU! to all of the sponsors and volunteers who helped make this program possible.  Students and school staff have been abuzz with the creative energy swirling around the program. We hope to be posting a slide show soon of activities so that you folks at home can see what has been happening. It looks like we will have some funding to continue the program into fall.  If you would like to help this program continue, there are three things that we are looking for . . .

1. Funding . . . of course always helpful.  You may make a tax deductible contribution towards the program by visiting the Ocracoke Alive website at www.ocracokealive.org/donate.html for Paypal or Credit Card contributions, or by mailing a donation to "Ocracoke Alive (memo Arts Partnership Program), PO Box 604, Ocracoke, NC 27960.
2. Visiting artists. Would you like to spend a week here on Ocracoke Island in exchange for teaching in the program?  Ocracoke Alive will set you up with housing. The programming is moderate enough so that you will have personal time to stroll the village and beaches.  Artists who provide their own housing can receive a stipend. Details and teacher application at www.ocracokealive.org/community-programs.html
3. Donate Ocracoke lodging for a visiting artist. If you own an house or condo on Ocracoke Island and would like to donate housing for a week in the off season to house a visiting artist (and receive a tax-donation letter from Ocracoke Alive), please contact David Tweedie at info@ocracokealive.org or 252-921-0260.

Thanks! For your help!

A Tale of Blackbeard Returns to the Stage in the Summer of 2015

Arrg! Get ready to swing yer cutlasses and jig around Ms. Euphemia's boarding house . . . Julie Howard's A Tale of Blackbeard is returning to the Ocracoke stage for a 7-show run this summer (Mondays, June 29-August 10th at the Ocracoke School Gym).  We have been holding auditions at Deepwater Theater this week and are lining up pirates and village girls for the return visit of Ocracoke's most infamous pirate. The show will be in partnership with the Ocracoke PTA which will receive a portion of the revenue. Ocracoke teachers will be able to sell food concessions to raise money for their classrooms, and any additional monies raised will go towards Ocracoke Alive programming in the community.

Photo by Brenda Kremzer

If you are interested in being a part of the production on or off stage, we are always looking for volunteers to work on costumes, sets, lights, sound, backstage, and to work as ushers and helpers at the shows. You may also become a sponsor for the 2015 run by visiting www.ocracokealive.org/donate.html.  Please contact us at info@ocracokealive.org or 252-921-0260 for questions about volunteering or donating.

That's all the news for now!
Your friends at Ocracoke Alive
www.ocracokealive.org