Greater Kennedy Plaza Hosts 1st Annual Summer Solstice Celebration on Saturday, June 23

Daylong event launches season of music, dance, art and family fun on Greater Kennedy Plaza.

Mayor Angel Taveras, the Greater Kennedy Plaza Coalition and the Department of Art, Culture + Tourism are pleased to announce 1st Annual Summer Solstice Celebration on Greater Kennedy Plaza. The Summer Solstice Celebration will take place on June 23 from 12 - 10PM. The event is free and open to the public.

The event begins with RISD alum Yarrow Thorne's Providence Under Pressure: Urban Street Art Exposed presented by the Avenue Concept. Urban street artists will create live, bold paintings on wood panels throughout the day on east approach between the skating rink and Burnside Park.

At 5PM, the event jumps into high gear with skateboarding demonstrations at the Bank of America City Center. Teens and tweens can show off their ollies and kickflips while the beats pump by local spirited DJs. Providence's burgeoning food truck scene will roll onto Washington Street and be on site all evening, kicking off a season-long food truck competition hosted by Rhode Island Food Fights.

Burnside Park will fill with family fun starting at 5PM with a musical performance by Keith Munslow. The Rhode Island Museum of Science and Art will bring their exhibits and activities for an early evening designed to kindle curiosity and encourage creative experimentation.

Providence artist Andrew Oesch presents his project 'Here, On This Place' for kids and adults to explore and add to a giant three-dimensional map of Providence in which collages and written memories will create personal landscapes of the city. Big Nazo LAB will entertain the crowd with bizarre and hilarious spectacles. Plus, the Providence Children's Museum will host its Imagination Playground in the park.

At 6:30PM in Burnside Park, local celebrity DJs will keep the mood lively while adults can sip refreshing craft brews in the beer garden and snack on delights from the food trucks. At 7:15PM, Mayor Taveras will welcome the first musical guest of the evening - Bird Dog, a Brooklyn-based outfit with a sound that draws on a wide set of roots influences. Providence's Boo City caps off the evening at 9PM with their dynamic meld of black country, soul and rock steady music.

Season of music, dance, art and family fun on Greater Kennedy Plaza

This celebration launches a season of fun on Greater Kennedy Plaza. Residents and visitors alike are invited to participate in weekly programming this summer including KidoInfo Providence Story Time, Art in The Park, the Burnside Park Beer Garden Music Series, and Farm Fresh Rhode Island's Downtown Farmers Market.

Look for other special events including the FirstWorks Fall Festival: On The Plaza, and appearances by Festival Ballet. Public art installations by a RISD Design Studio, AS220 Youth, The Steel Yard, and City Arts!, will make you see Greater Kennedy Plaza in a fresh perspective.

Sponsors of the "1st Annual Summer Solstice Celebration on Greater Kennedy Plaza" include: Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, RISCA, Providence Tourism Council, RIPTA, Providence Monthly, WBRU, and Providence Phoenix.