Sailabrating the War of 1812

I sincerely hope everyone in the Baltimore area has taken advantage of the historic, monumental commemoration that has engulfed our city for the past few days! If not, go check out the tall ships before they leave tomorrow morning! I am not a connoisseur of tall ships--nor am I a huge fan of the Blue Angels, as their booming sound and uncomfortably close proximity to buildings freaks me out--but I have been totally loving the Star-Spangled Sailabration! The festival has been a genuinely exciting way to kick off the War of 1812 Bicentennial and show off our city to a wide swath of visitors. For someone who truly loves history, being able to share my adopted hometown's rich heritage with so many interested visitors was a dream come true!

One my favorite moments of the festival was attending the Star-Spangled Symphony, my first time hearing the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, (Governor) O'Malley's March, or the U.S. Navy Chorus. I absolutely love that tickets were only $15, opening the doors to the gorgeous Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to new audiences (including me). The Philip Glass premiere was very exciting, but the rousing American tunes that followed truly made my heart swell with patriotism and pride (the huge 15-star, 15-stripe flag draping the back of the stage probably helped too). O'Malley's March was pretty darn cool--the Governor has a gift for songwriting and some serious stage presence (no surprise there). The finale, of course, with red, white & blue confetti was really something to remember!

In addition to the symphony, I loved wandering around the Inner Harbor admiring the tall ships and of course, people-watching too. I have seen so many awesome American flag shirts and sweaters in the past five days (seriously, I love Americana and patriotic kitsch). The festival set-up at Fells Point was a delightful surprise as well. I didn't make it to two of my favorite places in Baltimore--Fort McHenry or the Flag House--this weekend but I am sure they were packed with enthusiastic visitors. 

I can only imagine all of the many, many hours of hard work that went into planning this event of international proportions--kudos to all involved at the War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission and Star-Spangled 200! I can't wait to celebrate the Baltimore of Baltimore in September 2014!

Here are some photos from the weekend. I realize there were many great photo ops but I seemed to have missed all of them! I went a few different days so that explains the change in lighting...

summer festivals

for those of you in baltimore this summer, make sure you check out these festivals:

-july 11-13: 27th annual caribbean carnival at druid hill park-- free on friday, $5 on saturday & sunday (link). should be a colorful event. druid hill isn't always the safest place at night, but is generally friendly during the day. you can get there by walking about 15 minutes from the woodberry light rail stop.

-july 18-20: check out america's largest free public arts festival, artscape, at mt. royal ave and cathedral street-- by mica, accessible via the mt. royal stop on the light rail (link). i've heard this is really worthwhile, a wonderful gathering of baltimore's art community. dan deacon's collective wham city throws their alternative whartscape the same weekend for $12 a day (www.whamcity.com). friday night's show sounds the most impressive, with appearances by jana hunter, beach house and arbouretum.

-july 26: salsapolkalooza, a free neighborhood festival at the creative alliance in east baltimore (link). the creative alliance is a really cool place where creativity is both highly esteemed and readily available. this would be a highly enjoyable event if you are in the area.

-august 2-3: international festival and soccer tournament, sponsored by the city, held at the poly/western high school complex at cold spring lane in medfield (link). i am really excited for this-- it sounds like there will be quite an array of cultural performances throughout both days.

-august 9-10: festafrica at patterson park (link). the $5 festival includes dance and music performances, storytelling, arts/crafts, vendors and a soccer tournament. i'm not entirely sure what this festival is all about, but patterson park in east baltimore is a must for the complete city experience-- the view from the pagoda is awesome.

-august 16-17: the 80th annual saint gabriel festival in little italy should be a treat (link). $1 gets you into the authentic neighborhood festival, where you can sample food and play bocce ball. close to the inner harbor (and thus accessible in many ways, including a short walk from the convention center stop on the light rail or the end of many bus lines), this is just a cool neighborhood to explore.

-august 22-24: the baltimore american indian center's 34th annual powwow, held in patterson park (link). looks like an interesting melange of traditional and contemporary native american arts.