After taking last year off, the Outside The Box music and arts festival is coming back to Boston this summer.
According to a report in the Boston Globe, millionaire philanthropist Ted Cutler is resurrecting his free, all-ages event, which will take place July 14 to 19 over six days across three outdoor stages around the city.
In 2013, Outside The Box drew hundreds of thousands of people to Boston Common and City Hall Plaza over nine days and nights, culminating in a free show in the park with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Buffalo Tom, and the Lemonheads. Outside the Box featured a wide array of performers, chefs, and artists, as well as a strong batch of local bands and artists, like Will Dailey, Bearstronaut, Adam Ezra Group, Ruby Rose Fox, Gentlemen Hall, Boys Like Girls, Tallahassee, Abadabad, and Shea Rose.
An estimated 3,000 people performed at the fest.
The 2014 hiatus, according to the Globe, was “prompted by management woes and spiraling costs.” The 84-year-old Cutler is said to be picking up most of the $2 million tab for this summer’s event, and has partnered with Greater Media to attract national acts to the main stage. The Greater Media radio network includes Country 102.5 WKLB, 105.7 WROR, Magic 106.7, and WBOS Radio 92.9.
“They plan nights devoted to country music and classic rock, and will incorporate Radio 92.9’s EarthFest, an annual concert staged at the Hatch Shell in the past,” the Globe reports. EarthFest will take place July 18 at Boston Common.
This year’s lineup, for EarthFest and Outside the Box as a whole, has yet to be announced.
Here’s more from the Globe in a comprehensive spotlight on Cutler and his festival ambitions:
“Teddy explained his vision for Outside the Box going forward, and I loved it,” said Rob Williams, vice president and market manager for Greater Media Boston. “He said he wanted this to be here a generation from now.”
Cutler said his festival will also feature everything from local theater and dance troupes to international acts, and a sprawling section for children that will feature arts education. “Our festival plays to everybody in the city of Boston,” Cutler said. “It’s family entertainment.”
For Cutler, a Dorchester native who made his fortune organizing technology trade shows, the festival is a singular passion: an opportunity to give back to the city he loves.
“We found out that a lot of people from the city of Boston, that was their first concert,” Cutler remarked of the 2013 festival, which he said hosted more than 650,000 visitors. “It’s just showing . . . how important it is to take these kids who should be studying the performing arts and giving these kids a chance to see it.”
Here’s a recap video of 2013’s Outside The Box…