This Saturday’s Dedham Square Music and Art Festival will feature 10 musical acts, from the Celtic and Irish tunes of Inchicore to the alt-country band Autumn Hollow.
The musicians span many genres – headliner Magic Magic describes itself as a mix of indie/healing and easy listening/lounge – but “the big thing is that most of our performers are local,” says Michelle Apuzzio.
Most of the bands have some sort of Dedham connection, from Sarah Blacker, who works as a music therapist at Voicewize in Dedham Square, to Julie Sweeney’s band, whose members all hail from town.
Meantime, Autumn Hollow is from Needham, rockers Mission Hill and Shadwell are from Boston, and acoustic folk musician Maria Sangiolo “lives in Connecticut, but she was born in Stoughton,” says Apuzzio, who is publicizing the third annual festival.
The Dedham Square MusicFest is being held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the field of the Dedham Community House – its second year in that location.
The first edition was held across the street in front of First Church and put on solely by Dedham Square Circle, says Amy Haelsen, but starting last year the nonprofit teamed up with the Dedham Community House and a related organization, the Dedham School of Music, to host the event.
“They cut it down to one day, they made it free, and that was all to encourage attendance,” in line with the school’s goal of improving access to music, Apuzzio says.
Haelsen says “it’s a great combination of resources of all three groups,” with sponsors helping underwrite the costs. The Dedham Transcript is this year’s media sponsor.
“Having had a few really successful performances last year like Sarah Blacker, Inchicore and Magic Magic, we definitely knew that we wanted them back,” Apuzzio says of the lineup, which was pulled together during the winter and spring.
Sangiolo kicks things off at 10 with a kids’ concert. When she played at the Dedham Community Theatre a few years ago, “the kids were glued to their seats,” Apuzzio says.
While most of Saturday’s performances will be 40 minutes long, Sangiolo’s will last an hour. Notes Apuzzio, “It’s kind of ironic that the people with the shortest attention span will have the longest set geared toward them.”
“We’re hoping that families come out early in the day and stay,” she says. “We’ve tried to make this as family friendly an event as possible, so all of the acts are appropriate for all ages.”
Overall, the lineup features “a lot of rock and a lot of alternative,” Apuzzio says. Among the highlights is Mission Hill, who will be opening for Bon Jovi and Kid Rock at Gillette Stadium this summer.
“That in and of itself is pretty cool, that we have a band of that caliber,” Haelsen says. “A lot of these are bands that people pay to go see in Boston and the surrounding area.”
Limits Break will be the sole teen band after YellowCake was a late scratch. For the full schedule, see dedhamfestival.org/performanceschedule.html.
New at the festival this year are the two tents where people can check out the work of painters, sculptors, jewelers, and unique handmade baby gifts.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about since the very first year, and now that we’ve got the music portion of it established…we decided this year that it would be great to add an artists’ component to it,” Haelsen says. “We’re really aiming to have Dedham Square be a destination for cultural and artistic activities. It seemed like a no-brainer to have an artists’ tent there the same day as the live music.”
Food on offer will include Tex’s BBQ Express of Sprague Street, an ice cream truck, and free samples from Whole Foods Market.
The organizers are hoping for hundreds of people to turn out. “I’ve already put in an order for good weather, so that should be fine,” Haelsen quipped.
She said they already have a long list of people who are interested in playing next year. "That’s our goal, is to continue to build it, not only with more acts and more artists, but its reputation,” Haelsen said of the festival. “We really want to build the event so it becomes a draw regionally.”
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
