GOOD TIMES
Creating a bold 2021 Steven Froias
The New Bedford arts community and creative businesses have big plans to put some sizzle into your winter and some engaging culture into your entire year as it plans for both a pandemic, and post-pandemic, 2021. First up is
#NBfestive Winter Places. This pop-up series will take place at various hot spots throughout downtown New Bedford – places where residents and visitors can “warm up, chill out, shop small, and eat local,” beginning on the weekend of Thursday, February 11 through February 14 and continuing every weekend thereafter until spring. On those weekends, artists, performers, and downtown businesses will offer a variety of special events and programming in the city that are safe and fun for all ages. Preservation Planner Anne Louro explains, “The City of New Bedford received a Winter Placemaking grant through Bench Consulting’s ‘Winter Places’ program, with funding support from the Barr Foundation, to implement programming and placemaking within the downtown’s public spaces.” Highlights of the series include the following: The CVPA Star Series will run through May 2021 at the corner of
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Purchase and Union Streets from 6 to 8 pm. It will feature performers, artists, video, and more inside its street-level display windows while patrons watch from outside or on a live stream. Wings Court, entered into via Purchase or Union Streets, will host fire pits and curling games on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 to 8 p.m. all winter long. Between activities, you can enjoy the plethora of small businesses and eateries which circle Wings Court and radiate out for blocks around. Also on Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. over in Custom House Square Park, a snow-making machine will lend a hand to Mother Nature so that you can take advantage of some sledding on the rolling landscape. At all times throughout the winter months of #NBfestive Winter Places, patrons can enjoy special lights installed in Wings Court and Custom House Square and public art displays – including a large five-foot snowflake by city artist Jessica Bregoli, a six-foot lantern by Tim
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Catz, and an 18-foot selfie-ready scallop boat made by carpenters of the city Public Works Department and painted by Mandy Fraser. To add to the #NBfestive atmosphere, downtown’s many storefronts will be beautifully decorated and specially lit, and colorful banners will be flying above the streets. #NBfestive Winter Places partners the City of New Bedford with Destination New Bedford, New Bedford Creative, UMass Dartmouth CVPA, and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park along with its hip destination small businesses and creative residents. Jennifer Smith, Superintendent of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, emphasizes that the event is part of a year-round effort to engage the community. “The winter placemaking activities planned are in support of the National Park Service’s efforts to provide safe and engaging outdoor recreational opportunities for our visitors.”
Chill out Meanwhile, this year’s Wicked Cool Places arts and culture grants have been selected for projects that will stretch across all of 2021, and hopefully embrace a post-pandemic future. Wicked Cool Places is the City of New Bedford’s grant program for creative
