The annual Springfield SOHO Music Festival is back and bigger than ever for its’ 11th year. The two-day music festival takes place between Fifth and Sixth streets on Washington Street north of the Old State Capitol. It consists of 60 local bands performing on five stages, plus an expanded family area and kids’ carnival featuring […]
Old State Capitol
Posted inArts & Culture
Block party
PHOTO COURTESY OF SPRINGFIELD ART ASSOCIATION Springfield Art Association rolls out its colorful festival Paint the Street in downtown Springfield Saturday, July 26. Anyone can purchase a six-foot by six-foot square to fill with their imagination using paint. SAA supplies the washable tempera and brushes. Register to paint a block at Washington and Fifth and […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The hearth eternal
She said to us who came with wondering eyes– “This is a magic fire, a magic room.” – From “The Hearth Eternal,” a poem by Lindsay published in 1914 in Congo and Other Poems. Jennie Battles stands in one of the rooms of the Vachel Lindsay State Historic Site by the typewriter poet Vachel Lindsay […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Not tomatoes; tomatillos
They look like green tomatoes, at least once their husks have been removed. When cut and the chambers of tiny seeds exposed, they still look a bit as if they could be tomatoes; although possibly, as a saying in my family goes, “like a bastard at a family reunion.” Eaten raw, their taste and texture […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Pavement Picassos
Presenting a new celebration of the arts – Springfield Art Association’s Paint the Street Fest sponsored by Zara’s Collision Center and Horace Mann. On Saturday, July 20, groups, businesses and individuals will literally paint logos and pictures on 200 squares of Washington Street, between Fourth and Seventh in downtown. The public is invited to participate […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Home run
The Illinois Symphony Orchestra hits a home run with a free baseball-themed concert on the Old State Capitol grounds Sept. 4. You’ll hear all the songs you love about America’s favorite pastime, including “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Yaniv Segal conducts. He is New York Chelsea Symphony founder and Michigan Pops Orchestra music director. […]
Posted inOpinion
The Presidential museum turns five
Abe World opened five years ago this month, on April 19. Drawing on all the dark arts of electronic hucksterism, the new museum was to transform Springfield into a Mecca for patriots who would make their hajj by the millions in their Caravans and Odysseys. Has it? Has it returned a decent profit on the […]
