The Annual Poe Festival will raise funds for Hope West
The Poe Project will kick off the Edgar Allan Poe Festival with a candle-lit benefit dinner and dance performance on Friday, October 2, 5:00-8:00, in an abandoned warehouse at 525 South 6th Street.
Catered by Spoons Bistro, and hosted by Typewritering Wordsmiths, the proceeds and furnishings from this event will be donated to Hope West, and a portion of sales will be donated to Orchard Mesa Middle School Student of the Month breakfast. The performance is based on "The Cask of Amontillado" by the Salt Wash Dance Theater.
Donations for furnishing the Poe dinner can be made by calling 970-216-7338. Glassware, flatware, and place settings and other household furnishings accepted, and after the event, all will be donated to Heirlooms for Hospice, a division of Hope West.
Tickets for the Edgar Allan Poe dinner can be purchased for $67 online or by calling 970-216-7338. Price includes admission to the Uncanny Valley First Friday show, and the evening Festival performances on the 9th or 10th. Other events may be included. Tickets for the Festival Performance can individually be purchased at $10 at the door, or by calling 970-361-5867.
This first Festival event is held in in conjunction with Uncanny Valley’s First Friday Art Show “Nyctophilia: An Attraction to the Dark” in the M-City Lounge building at 515 S. 7th Street, right next door. The Festival will continue into the second weekend of October, with three interactive performances of “Prospero’s Promenade” at the Whitman Building on Friday, October 9th and encore performances on the 10th, starting at 6:00 both nights.
These tour-like performances will include works inspired by “The Masque of the Red Death,” “Annabel Lee,” and “A Dream.” The Festival will conclude with poetry readings and wine after the final performance on Saturday in the Wabi Sabi Yoga Studio in the Whitman Building. This may not be a complete list of events, and details are subject to change. For a full list of events as they update, visit their website.
The Edgar Allan Poe Festival is an annual event in Grand Junction near the American horror writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe’s death, October 7th. He was a prolific writer in the first half of the 19th century, with some of his most famous works being The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Tell-Tale Heart.
Typewritering Wordsmiths is two English majors--one focusing on literature, the other on writing. After each acquiring vintage typewriters, they decided to take them into public to see what would happen. They became Typists on Demand. You can follow them on Facebook.
Salt Wash Dance Theater has been celebrating Poe as performance art since 2008 as well as the participating in the Grand Valley Performing Arts Festival and Kinetic Arts Curriculum. The artistic director, Connie Monroe, is a Western Slope native.
If you’d like more information about Typewritering Wordsmiths or these Poe Festival events, or to schedule an interview with Ann Hartter or Connie Monroe, please call Ann at 970/216-7338 or email at AnnHartter@yahoo.com, and Connie at 970-361-5867 or email at monroe11@yahoo.com.
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