Labor Day weekend festivities in Gloucester continue to mushroom, fertilized by Gloucester Schooner Festival events, which take place Saturday and Sunday.
The annual Lighted Boat Parade and fireworks over the harbor take place Saturday. The parade kicks off not long after dusk and makes its way up the Annisquam River into the harbor to Rocky Neck and back, after which the fireworks kick off.
Those wanting to light up their boats and take part just need to show up at Jones Creek around 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 978-281-4196.
In case of a hurricane or excessive wind, the "rain date" for the Lighted Boat Parade will be Sunday.
Organizers are really hoping that some new faces will take part this year to keep this tradition alive. "Let's not have the lights go out," organizers say
A special addition to this Schooner Festival weekend is a seven-hour Celebrate Gloucester music event Sunday featuring an array of musicians, including Grammy Award-winning Charles Neville as well as Gloucester resident and New Orleans native Henri Smith, a singer, and his band, New Orleans Friends and Flavours.
Several other popular musicians will perform at this concert: Roomful of Blues; KBMG and Allen Estes; as well as local rising stars Inge Berge, Chelsea Berry and Pete Lindberg.
Celebrate Gloucester takes place Sunday, Sept. 5, from 3 to 10 p.m. on the two acres known as I-4, C-2 off Rogers Street on Gloucester Harbor.
The music will be varied including blues, rock, New Orleans jazz, funk and Americana.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Advance tickets are at the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, the Liquor Locker, Atlantis Oceanfront Inn and online at celebrategloucester.com.
Net proceeds will be donated to The Gloucester Fund, which award grants to local projects or charities.
Gorvett at Gravure
Gravure Gallery announces the opening of an exhibition of drawings by long-time Gloucester resident Ralph Gorvett. A public reception with the artist and refreshments will take place Friday, Sept. 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the gallery downtown at 51 Main St. in Gloucester.
For years, Gorvett has produced meticulous drawings in graphite, ballpoint pen, and other dry media. His recent work tends toward abstraction, but is rooted in the rhythms, patterns, and shapes of the observable world. Several early representational works chronicle the development of the draughtsman.
Gorvett attended Burlington High School, where he studied art with Elinor Marvin and Priscilla Kilgore. He was awarded the Globe Scholastics High School National Gold Medal in 1967 for drawing. He attended The School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts where he majored in sculpture and drawing, and as a freshman won second prize for drawing in the annual Boit Show. He now lives in Gloucester. For information, visit www.dongorvettgallery.com or call 978-282-8881.
Last chance for raffle
A raffle fundraiser is underway for both the Fireworks and Lighted Boat Parade, with all proceeds going to support these events that light up the Labor Day weekend. The $5 raffle tickets will be on sale, with the prize — His and Hers NEXT 18-speed pro mountain bikes on display at Cape Ann Savings Bank — Friday. Tickets are available at the bank, Weathervane Gift Shop, Two Sisters Coffee Shop, George's Coffee Shop and Tony's Mobil Mart.
Art at White-Ellery
Cape Ann Museum presents "White-Ellery Illuminated," a one-day contemporary art installation by Stevens Brosnihan at the historic White-Ellery House on Saturday, Sept. 4, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The historic house is open that day for guided tours as part of 17th Century Saturdays, an Escapes North program that is free to the public. White-Ellery House is at 245 Washington St. near the rotary in Gloucester.
In "White-Ellery Illuminated," Brosnihan seeks to bring the viewer's eye in close to appreciate the subtlety and complexity of beauty that only 300 years of human history could create. The interior of the first period house (c. 1620-1725) reverberates with subtle emanations of the history of six generations of a Gloucester family. This series of photographs takes a painterly, abstract view of the layered history of marks, fabrications and destructions within and of the walls. Most of the images were created using an old large-format, black-and-white copy camera, originally designed for documenting two-dimensional work. The film was developed using Caffenol, a mixture of instant coffee, washing soda and vitamin C. The negatives were then scanned digitally and printed using a large-format, archival ink-jet printer.
Brosnihan, born in Chicago, received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He lives in Gloucester at Beacon Street Farm with his wife Lara Lepionka and two daughters, Willa and Beatrix.
For information call 978-283-0455 or visit www.capeannmuseum.org.
Birth of a schooner
On Monday, Sept. 6, 11th generation shipwright Harold Burnham will start framing a new schooner, the Pinky Ardelle. Visitors can join the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, at 66 Main Street in Essex, and H.A. Burnham Boat Building in celebrating this special occasion. The keel will be signed and the first frames will be raised in this free event.
In celebration of the birth of this schooner, the museum will demonstrate traditional boat-building techniques. Visitors can try their hand at steam bending a plank, making a trunnel, putting together and mounting a frame, and an exhibit will be unveiled.
There will be food available for purchase, including hot dogs, ribs, chowder, beer and soft drinks from Ipswich Ale, and more. There will be toy boat building for the kids, and music by John Hicks and Friends.
For the day's event schedule, call 978-768-7541 or visit www.essexshipbuildingmuseum.org.
Comedy and cruise
The Friends of Rockport Athletics will host a fundraising comedy cruise on the Hurricane II at Cape Ann Whale Watch on Friday, Sept. 3, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. A comedian will start the jokes promptly at 6:30 on the dock and the cruise will follow. Music, some food, cash bar and a sunset cruise around the schooners in Gloucester Harbor will benefit the athletic teams of Rockport High School. Tickets can be purchased for $20 each from Cape Ann Whale Watch at 1-800-877-5110 or Friends of Rockport Athletics member Thomas MacCrate at 978-546-8393. Hurricane date is Sept. 18.
New work at NSAA
The North Shore Arts Association presents two new featured artist exhibitions, sculpture by Ed Krukonis and paintings by John Patrick Flynn, through Sept. 19 in the Gordon Grant Room. An opening reception will be held Sunday, Sept. 12, from 2 to 4 p.m.
David Montgomery will be displaying small works through Sept. 19.
Roy Blankenship will hold the second annual Painting Restoration Assessment on Sept. 18 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The public is invited to bring in up to two aging paintings for a free assessment from a professional restoration expert,
North Shore Arts Association, 11 Pirates Lane in Gloucester, is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Call 978-283-1857 or visit www.nsarts.org for information.
Russo benefit raffle
A benefit raffle for the Russo family is underway, leading up to the Sept. 13 golf tournament to help the widow and children of a local fisherman lost at sea. The idea is to help build a college fund. The 56 raffle items are varied and include a six-week membership to MAC Fitness, tickets for Blue Man Group, a grill, $100 gift certificate for Duckworth's Bistro, $50 at Causeway Restaurant as well as gift certificates to other local and Boston restaurants, lobsters, autographed sports items and more. Tickets will be sold this weekend at George's Coffee Shop, or call Paul at 978-479-4296 or 978-283-1810. Tickets are $10. The drawing is Sept. 13.
Mysteries of Everest
Little Art Cinema at 19 School St. in Rockport will show "The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest" this Friday through Sept. 16 with shows at 7and 9 p.m.
Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Anthony Geffen and featuring the vocal talents of Academy Award nominees Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, as well as Hugh Dancy, Alan Rickman and the late Natasha Richardson, the film seeks to provide answers to the mysteries surrounding the death of explorer George Mallory on Mount Everest. The trailer can be viewed at www.thewildestdreammovie.com.
Save the dates
End of Summer Swing with Alek Razdan and the A-Train Orchestra at the Rockport Art Association on Sept. 10 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. for an all-ages show. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and teens. Tickets are available at the Rockport Art Association, Katie's Gift Shop, Toad Hall Bookstore and Bearskin Neck Country Store in Rockport. For information, call 978-546-6604.
Old Sloop Coffeehouse will present the Allen Estes Band on Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Rockport, 12 School St. Suggested contribution is $10 for adults and $5 for those under 18 or older than 65, with a $20 maximum for families. Visit http://oldsloopcoffeehouse.org for details. Call 978-546-3551 or send e-mail to reservations@oldsloopcoffeehouse.org for reservations.
"Hamlet" will be performed at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport on Sept. 17 to 19. Tickets for the production by Theater in the Pines are now on sale at Toad Hall Bookstore in Rockport, The Bookstore of Gloucester, Shalin Liu box office. Details, call 978-546-7391.
Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-283-7000 x3445, or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com. Items should be submitted at least two weeks in advance of the event.
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