Photo courtesy of Greg Nacerino | Band Perpetual Groove is one of the bands performing at the festival.
Music festivals are highly popular events for college students over the summertime, and the very first Rhode Island Music and Arts Festival will occur this upcoming weekend in Providence.
With its lively music and art presence, Providence is a hotspot in Rhode Island for music festivals.
Greg Nacerino and TJ McNulty, the coordinators of the event, see that Providence is bursting with an enormous amount of musical talent. Therefore, they have decided to celebrate and share the arts with others in Rhode Island. The inaugural Rhode Island Music and Arts Festival was created in order to achieve this goal.
“There’s always been a good scene in Providence and sometimes it gets overlooked, so we just want to contribute in anyway to put the spotlight on Providence,” Nacerino said.
Nacerino and McNulty want to bring a whole different experience to the people of Rhode Island and in an effort to do so, they jam-packed an array of events into this two-day festival. Festivities will start off with a yoga session from Providence Power Yoga.
Once the bands start to perform, different types of vendors will be available for attendees to shop at, games will be provided and contests and giveaways will occur.
One of the major events that will take place during the festival is a mural artist that will be doing live art while the bands are performing. This a great opportunity for the audience to appreciate the effort that goes into creating works of art.
In order to make sure this is an event that will draw every type of person in, the festival is well thought out with intricate details. Nacerino and McNulty have been planning this festival for a little under a year now and could not be more passionate about this event.
“This is something we are doing on the side for the love of it,” Nacerino said.
Art and music are clearly a huge part of Nacerino and McNulty’s life, due to the fact that they have full-time jobs and are still taking on this big responsibility. Both are willing to take those extra steps to organize this enormous festival to express their love for the arts.
There are many different aspects that they both put into this event in order to cover every part of the broad subject of art. Of course, the main event of the festival are the bands. Nacerino and McNulty carefully picked each band by choosing ones that they are familiar with in order to ensure that the music set the tone for the festival.
All of the bands have roots in New England, and the two coordinators wanted to ensure that the festival is celebrating not just Rhode Island, but all of New England. This led them to select locally sourced bands to bring a sense of community.
Nacerino believes that ultimately this festival will be like no other. The event is open to all since it is catered around a huge age range, from children to adults. Nacerino and McNulty encourage all University of Rhode Island students to attend for a fun weekend and unforgettable memories with friends.
According to Nacerino, “It’s going to be the party of the year.”
The inaugural Rhode Island Music and Arts Festival was planned with the intention that every attendee will have a blast and that there will be a little something for everyone who attends.
The Rhode Island Music and Arts Festival will be held at India Point Park in Providence on Sept. 14 and 15. This two-day music and arts festival is bound to change up the scene in Providence for Rhode Island residents.
To be a part of the first year of this festival, visit the website, rhodeislandmusicfestival.com to buy tickets for either both days or just one.
URI students can use the code, ‘CIGAR,’ in order to receive ten percent off their tickets.