The East End Arts’ JumpstART event drew hundreds of people to downtown Riverhead last night to enjoy public art, music, dancing, fire displays and community.
“It was a great night. My hat’s off to East End Arts to bring such a wonderful experience to downtown Riverhead,” Supervisor Sean Walter. “It’s the way Main Street has to be and should be every weekend.”
East End Arts executive director Pat Snyder said last night she was very pleased with the turnout for the event. It demonstrates how the arts can draw people to the downtown district, she said.
Walter agreed. “Events bring people downtown. We saw that with all the events we funded through the BID. It’s my vision for Main Street to be that way every weekend,” he said.
People milled about along Main Street, stopping to listen to musicians perform on the sidewalk or to take in one of the many public art installations. The crowd was steady from the opening event at 5:30 to well past the event’s advertised end-time of 9 p.m. There was poetry, theater, music and vocal performances, dancing, drumming, yoga, a Native American ceremony, art exhibits — both indoors and open air — and a fire display on the river dubbed “RiverFires” by its sponsor, the Riverhead BID Management Association.
L.I. Aquarium executive director Bryan DeLuca, who brought the RiverFires idea to the BID board, was on hand to oversee the first-time lighting of the floating fire pits. He said he was excited by all the buzz along the riverfront. The floating fire pits are unique on Long Island and drew throngs of onlookers to the boardwalk. BID officials are hoping they will be an ongoing tourist attraction. The BID also had a fire going in the land-based artisan prototype fire pit it had commissioned. DeLuca said he’d like to see fire pits like that all along the riverfront. A waterfront fire display, coordinated with outdoor events, in Providence, Rhode Island draws thousands of visitors, he said.
DeLuca said the event reminded him of the popular “Live at Five” weekly event in the Village of Patchogue, which attracts hundreds of people to Main Street, Patchogue every week for food, music and socializing.
“It’s been a tremendous success and has been instrumental in the village’s revitalization,” DeLuca said in an interview yesterday.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl and Denise Civiletti
Click thumbnails to enlarge images
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