As the Rhode Island summer festival season slowly draws to a close, there are a few extravaganzas remaining where people can still get weird. One of those is the 21st annual Foo Fest, once again put on by the Providence arts non-profit AS220 this Saturday, August 13, outside their headquarters on Empire Street.
It’s the closest thing you can get to a block party in this day and age with numerous art installations, food trucks, delicious beverages and a stacked lineup consisting of local and national acts. Along with the festival there’s also the creative excellence of the Rhode Island Mini Maker Faire and the eye-opening and educational Providence Anarchist Book Fair taking place within the gates of Foo Fest. It’s always one of the more unique experiences happening in The Creative Capital during the year and this edition of Foo Fest promises to live up to the billing.
Baltimore electro-psych dynamo Dan Deacon headlines this time around along with plenty of stunning bands and musicians. The Quahogs will be bringing a dose of whiskey soaked and beer drenched rock and roll, new wave weirdos XR-Tabs got their dancing shoes ready, and world music artist Sidy Maiga plans on letting the beat flow through the masses. Gothic dreamers Leiko, abstract punks Snowplows, the rifftastic Gertrude Atherton and queercore act Hussy will be bringing the noise. There’s also the prog-glam of Arc Iris, emo punks Lovesick, Worcester psychedelic fiends Secret Lover, artistic noisemakers Ed Schrader’s Music Beat and metal juggernauts Churchburn making their presence felt. Rounding out the rest of the lineup will be the wizards in Harry and the Potters, afro-carribbean artist Taina Asili, hip-hop artist Passionate MC, noise act Power Monster, Flintstones, Theosophia, the AS220 Youth Zu-Krewe and the Machines With Magnets house band known as Houseboy.
As if this whole event isn’t crazy enough, Harry and the Potters will also be hosting a Golden Snitchwich Eating Competition. We at Vanyaland have no idea what the hell a Golden Snitchwich is so you’ll just have to head to Foo Fest on Saturday to find out. It’s going to be a cavalcade of creative insanity happening all day and night. You’ll also be spending at least half of the time on the street schmoozing with some good friends.
Listen to a preview of some of the participating bands via their respective Bandcamp pages, get more info from the Facebook event page, and peep the set times to plan the day in advance.
