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(SANTA BARBARA, CA, October 1, 2024) – The fourth annual Masq(p)arade! performance progressive will take place on Friday, October 18, 2024, with shows every fifteen minutes from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. This whimsical entertainment event showcases a series of lively, piano-based performances at the Pianos on State painted pianos in the heart of Santa Barbara’s historic cultural arts district.
Masq(p)arade! enlists performing artists to create fifteen-minute works to be staged in succession on the final Friday of Pianos on State, serving as a grand finale for the annual painted piano project. These bite-sized performances engage audience members through innovative presentations involving playful masks and fancifully-painted pianos. A brief intermission between acts allows participants to advance up State Street to the subsequent piano to enjoy the entire performance series. The event is free to the public, who are encouraged to further take part in the fun by donning their own bedecked and bedazzled masks for the occasion.
Conceived in 2021 as an interactive complement to Pianos on State and as a means of fostering connection as the community began to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, this roving performing arts showcase quickly became a beloved Santa Barbara tradition. “Masq(p)arade! is about expecting the unexpected,” said Casey Caldwell, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, about the pop-up nature of the event.
Masq(p)arade! is featured in the ARTS District’s “Fall for the Arts” showcase, as well as the Downtown Organization’s ARTober lineup.
The lineup for Masq(p)arade! 2024 is:
5:30 – 5:45 Out of the Box Theatre Company @ State/Figueroa (Pacific Premier Bank)
6:00 – 6:15 Jackson Gillies & Connie Gillies @ State/Anapamu (Old Navy)
6:30 – 6:45 Brasscals! @ State/Anapamu (Sama Sama Kitchen)
7:00 – 7:15 Santa Barbara Gay Men’s Chorus @ State/Victoria (Starbucks)
7:30 – 7:45 Zach Gill & Friends @ The Arlington Theatre
For further information, please visit www.masqparade.org.