Vendors and Food Trucks and Actors, Oh my!

The planning stage for the 2024 “Oz Land Festival” is in process, and we couldn’t be more excited for this year’s turnout. Scarlett Antonia is booking some great entertainment, (TBA) and the vendors are coming in hot! We have jewelry makers, photographers, food trucks and much more. In addition, we have just put out an open call for actors to play “Wizard of Oz” characters in vignettes on stage on the day of the festival.

Please feel free to come and audition for something that is sure to be super fun. Just bring a monologue, have a song ready, and be ready to move! Antonia knows how to put shows together that always come out as special and unique.

What a crew!

On this year’s planning committee we have (from l-r) Christine Lifgren, Scarlett Antonia, David Peterman, and Sonia Lee Garber.

Working together again, and it feels so good!

As far as putting together a team, after a lifetime of being a dancer, Antonia recalls seeing her first ballet and noticing how everyone stood out yet still came together and created something together, as a team.  The team Antonia has put together for this year’s festival include Christine Lifgren, the Cartographer who maps out where the vendors are to arrive, be greeted, and set up shop.  David Peterman is the Stage Manager of the event, and Sonia Garber is the event coordinator.  Garber has been coordinating the Oz Land festival with Antonia and the team at Antonia Arts since its inception four years ago. Lifgren and Peterman have helped out with the festival for several years now as well.

“The performing arts are a metaphor for diverse people coming together and working as a team,” says Antonia.

The idea for the festival came to Antonia when she was putting on a production at the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater of the great American fairy tale, “The Wizard of Oz.”  Antonia sold out every show.  After doing some research, Antonia discovered that L.Frank Baum, the author of “Oz”, went to military academy in Peekskill.  As Baum and the story of Oz is so strongly connected to Peekskill, Antonia felt that “The Wizard of Oz” needed to be celebrated beyond putting shows on at The Paramount, and that idea is how the Oz Land Festival was born.

The Oz Land Festival will take place on August 17th, from 1-7pm on South Street in Peekskill. To make a donation to the Oz Land festival this year, please go to: https://antoniaarts.org/product/oz-land-festival-2024-fundraiser-event-donations/

All proceeds go to Antonia Arts, Inc.