August 30, 2017 — Things are about to heat up again in Lorain as Broadway Avenue and nearby alleyways, fire escapes, vacant lots and storefronts will serve as the stages and venues for blazing flashes of art, music, dance, and fire performances at the third annual FireFish Festival. Free to the public, FireFish expands to two days this year - Friday, October 6 from 5 to 11 pm and Saturday, October 7 from 2 pm to midnight. Cited as the latest example of "art as catalyst for civic rebirth" by the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, the FireFish Festival will feature a wide array of exciting performances in unexpected places by both local and regionally acclaimed artists and musicians; inventive visual art installations; fire performers; and once again, the musical procession of the Firefish, culminating in a pyrotechnic eruption on Black River Landing.

With Executive Director James Levin at the helm (Cleveland Public Theatre, Ingenuity Festival, Cleveland World Festival,) the FireFish Festival features an unprecedented mix of fire, entertainment, food and wine, in a reinvented urban setting. This year, the FireFish Festival launches with an exciting evening of music and art. With something for every musical taste, the Morning Journal FireFish Festival Kick-Off Concert, taking place Friday, October 6, at the loading dock of the Old Lorain Post Office on 8th Street, featuring the salsa/fusion band Grupo Fuego, hiphop by the Wrecking Crew Red Panda Bears, and the country band Black Horse with DJ Roberta Rosa spinning an eclectic mix of world music.

The visual arts feast will feature Kevin Jackson's large-scale projection mapping transformation of the facade of the old Lorain Post Office, Anachrotech. Visitors can join the party, dancing to the music from the main stage, and visit the make shift galleries and vacant storefronts transformed into vibrant art spaces along Broadway. All of the performances and exhibits are completely free to the public.

Visitors can return on Saturday for non-stop family fun sponsored by Horizon Education Centers with music, dance, theatre, and art at the BRIAR at 7th and Broadway; or more adult fare at the galleries on Broadway from 6th to 9th street, stages set up on Broadway, next to the Palace and the Old Post Office and various alleys, fire escapes and nooks and crannies.

FireFish Festival highlights include:

Performances:

- Main Stage performances by nationally known Northwest Territory Bluegrass Band, Lorain's ten piece high energy Latin City Soul Band, the vocal blues styling of Dr. E, and the high energy gospel choir Sacred Praise from Sacred Heart Church and more jazz, blues, hip hop and rock.

- Smaller stage performances by Hazel Chapman (Tracy's mom) doing spoken word, Collinwood Club Latin Guitar Duo, Lakeshore Ballet, Alma de Mexico, Drost Ballet, True North Cultural Arts with a sampling of the musical Bonnie and Clyde, hip hop dancer De Shawn Fowler, rap by MissMission, rock band Exotic Fruit Club, and crowd favorite Doug John Duo and a zodiac inspired performance installation by Christine Lewis (Friday only).

- The transformation of undiscovered alleys and courtyards into charmed performance venues for a wide array of theatrical experiences including the return of Lorain designer Jevon Torance in a fashion show, the aerial feats of the Jasmine Dragons, Ohio City Theatre Project's Central Concern, an unusual look at the real estate industry directed by Pandora Robertson, and Cleveland Shakespeare Festival performing Karaoke Shakespeare and much more!

- All festival-goers will be participants in the Sunset Procession which will feature Chorus of 1000 Voices, a grand-scale vocal journey coordinated by Grant Marquit, known for epic community-based performances (such as the 2015 Opus for 1001 Drums at Ingenuity Festival). The journey culminates in the not-to-be missed climactic Burning of the Fish on the bank of the Black River topped off by pyrotechnics from the Ohio Burn Unit. Participants of this spectacle include the Fish with a steam punk motif designed by North Ridgeville artist/maker Jim Gundlach and built by teen apprentices from the FireFish STEAM Academy under the direction of Lorain County artists Stevie Lee Tanner and Ryan Craycraft and Ryan Corrigan, Chris Leon and Scott Zitek of the LCCC Campana Center for Ideation and Invention's new Fab Lab; Danza Azteca including torches and dancers; the Hootenannies; Brittany Drost ballet dancers; belly dancers; and a wide array of drummers and fire performers including Violette Robinson's Fire and Light Performing Arts and Elyria's Wilfredo Espada's BlissFire.

Visual Arts and Installations-- In addition to Kevin Jackson's video mapping of the Old Post Office, the FireFish Festival features the following visual artists throughout Broadway Avenue:

- Curator and artist Hector Castellanos, will open an exhibit, "Nuestro Mundo Diverso" (on Sept 22) at the Lorain Arts Council honoring Hispanic Heritage Month featuring Latino artists Terry Flores (painter, mixed media), Jose Vasquez (painter- acrylic), Dante Rodriguez' chalk paintings, Luis Ramirez-Alonzo (painter, acrylic on clay), Magdalena Cruz (mandala type sand art), and Castellanos' acrylic work.

- Other featured visual artists include Cleveland artists Catherine Butler and Nancy Prudic collaborating on an interactive installation; whimsical sculptor Noah Hrbek creates various giant sized window figures; Ann Bort (interactive art;) Jessica Ferrato (video installation;) light sculptor Michael Net; a billboard installation by Ki Rodriguez; a Creature from the Black River sculpture by Karyl Lee and Lazslo Gyorki; Rachel Yurkovich (a plant installation in the lobby of the Old Post Office;) Robin Latkovich (video installation;) Cindy Penter (video installation;) Sean Jason Kelly and Mallory Freeman (an interior garden in the Herald Building;) Falcon Eddie Cummings (interactive sculptures;) Tanner and Craycroft's painting; Loren Naji's giant Emoh Sphere; Daiv Whaley's windchime installation; Lake Erie Sky's the Limit (projections of sunsets galore;) Palli Davis and Michael Holubar' tree sculptures and furniture; Ron Jantz photography; JingLing Luo rice paper paintings; Carolyn Ballou photography; Donna Coleman paintings; Aaron Theesfeld geodesic sculptures; Natasha Rosario's photography and The Visit's installation acknowledging first responders' heroism.

According to Executive Director James Levin, "With FireFish Festival, we dared to reimagine what downtown Lorain could be, and after three years the fruits of our labor are evident with stores, dance and yoga studios, recording studios and bars springing up along Broadway Avenue. Similar to what Public Theatre brought to Gordon Square and what the Ingenuity Festival brought to East 4th Street, this Festival is the impetus for the reinvention of Lorain as a dynamic, artistic mecca. By bringing together local and regional visual, performing, and installation artists, some experimenting with the forms of fire in their art and presented in places that you may not expect, we have created an unforgettable one-of-a-kind arts festival. And we are happy this year to offer Northeastern Ohio two days to visit this gem on the water."

"FireFish is a wonderful example of how the arts can unite our community through a celebration of creativity, technology and invention," said Lorain County Community College President Marcia Ballinger, Ph.D. "We are thrilled to have extensive involvement in this year's FireFish Festival from the grand opening video projection mapping by LCCC's Kevin Jackson to the creation of the giant FireFish centerpiece for the festival finale by teen apprentices, artists and LCCC Fab Lab staff at the Campana Center for Ideation and Invention. The only way to make a new future for Lorain County is by imagining it and creating it together. The FireFish Festival is an important part of our county's creative evolution."

The FireFish Festival is presented by FirstEnergy Foundation, and is supported by the Ohio Arts Council, in partnership with Lorain County Community College. Additional sponsors include the City of Lorain, the Lorain County Commissioners/Lorain Port Authority/Visit Lorain County, the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, Nordson Corporation Foundation, ComStar, Horizon Education Center, the Lorain Port Authority, Spitzer Autos, Northwest Bank, Lorain Morning Journal, and the Chronicle Telegram.

The FireFish Festival and FireFish STEAM Academy are programs supported by FireFish Arts, a Lorain County non-profit corporation dedicated to enhancing revitalization and economic development in downtown Lorain, impacting all of Lorain County. Through visionary arts events, programming and leadership, FireFish Arts is creating a bold new vision of arts event-based civic engagement, commerce, and enterprise through which downtown Lorain, the community, and region can work toward building a renewed creative economy. With Executive Director James Levin at the helm, FireFish Arts also provides critical leadership in creating broader community arts activity to spur economic development, bridge economic divides, generate hope, instill pride of community and empower disadvantaged individuals and groups through the arts.