My Catawba County

Festival Season Has Arrived

The second-annual Catawba Valley Festival of the Arts will be celebrated throughout the county the weekend of April 22-24. The CVFA aims to highlight our community’s diverse array of local arts including live music; visual, industrial and graphic arts; theater, dance and movement; literary arts; and culinary arts. Best of all? Every event on the Festival’s schedule is free to attend. We asked CVFA Planning Committee Chair Twyla Deese to give us the scoop.

What is the Catawba Valley Festival of the Arts?
The Catawba Valley Festival of the Arts is a weekend-long celebration of the creativity and talents of our visual, literary and performing artists and designers. The 3-day Festival is anchored by academic institutions Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) and Lenoir-Rhyne University (LRU), who serve as vanguards of the arts for the Catawba Valley. The mission of the Catawba Valley Festival of the Arts is to celebrate our distinctive, diverse, creative voices as we tell a bigger story that speaks to the magic of the Catawba Valley.

When and where does this year’s festival take place?
The CVFA takes place April 22-24 and is centered at the 34-acre venue of Catawba Farms in Newton, NC, in a hub and spoke pattern at various venues throughout Catawba County. Those venues include Duke’s Wine Bar, Catawba Valley Community College, L-R University and more.

What kinds of events and activities are scheduled for this year’s festival?

• Choral and live musical performances from CVCC, LRU and local legacy musicians.
• Open mic sessions from poets and authors.
• Visual arts exhibits, including photography, sculpture, ceramics, film, painting and other compositional artwork.
• Commercial, graphic arts and industrial design portfolio showcases.
• Theatrical performances, vignettes and dance from area performance stages and troupes.
• Sensory experiences from various culinary and beverage production industry and trades.
• Art activities and performances for children.

What inspired the creation of the festival, and which organizations are involved in making it happen?
The Festival began as a seed of an idea when Jane St. Clair sparked the idea for an “all arts” festival for Catawba County while sipping wine (the fruit of conversation) at Carolina Vines. From there, Jane and Twyla reached out to CVCC and LRU and voilá, the CVFA was birthed!

Is there anything else you would like to add about the festival?
This year we welcome Wanzl as our first Corporate Sponsor and express our sincere gratitude to them and the United Arts Council of Catawba Council for making this event possible for our community.