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Thursday, Nov. 21
The Indiana Daily Student

arts community events performances music

Final First Thursdays Festival of the academic year to take place this week

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The final First Thursdays Festival of the academic year will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. this Thursday at the Fine Arts Plaza. Live bands will perform on the steps of the IU Auditorium, and activities and food will be available around Showalter Fountain and down Seventh Street.

All performances and activities are free and open to the public, with food available for purchase. Food will be provided by IU Catering and inspired by recipes from “The Classic Hoosier Cookbook” originally published by IU Press in 1976, according to the IU Arts and Humanities Council website.

The First Thursdays Festival happens every month. The festival showcases local music, art and organizations.

Past First Thursdays festivals have showcased opera, dancing, music and art from a variety of cultural centers. Each festival features a new theme.

The IU Arts and Humanities Council website states the activities offered this month will be centered around community inclusivity. Activities based on this theme will include a human library where you can “check out” an individual and hear their stories and the I Am Worthy project, a photography series that celebrates diversity and individual identity.

Other activities will include a preview of this year’s Granfalloon Festival in celebration of Kurt Vonnegut, several maker stations provided by the School of Art, Architecture & Design and the Friends of Art Bookshop and a booth on the art of film scoring presented by the IU Cinema.

This month, local bands Heaven Honey, Flower Mouth, Bike Wreck and Secret Mezzanine will be performing on the main stage.

The selection of musical performances is inspired by the local house show scene. The bands performing are known for their appearances in Bloomington’s basement venues.

One of the bands, Secret Mezzanine, just released a new EP.

“We’re absolutely stoked to be playing at First Thursdays. It’s such a cool event to be a part of,” said Garrett Spoelhof, Secret Mezzanine’s keyboardist and IU freshman. “We’ll be playing music from our latest EP among other stuff, and it’s exciting to put that in front of a new audience.”

The local bands won't be the only performers at Thursday's festival. The IU Theatre program will be performing parts of its upcoming show “Wonderful Town,” and the IU a cappella singing group Singing Hoosiers will be performing songs from the Beatles, the Beach Boys and some folk music.

“It’s a good way to make sure we’re all prepared and have a feel for the music and choreography before we dive into tech week,” said Lilian Rona, a sophomore member of Singing Hoosiers.

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