Attractions
(all attractions all day long unless otherwise stated)
The Longest Continuous Music Set in History!
Everyone hates the awkward change-overs between sets at your average music festival so we're eliminating the gaps with a special Zappa hook. The last song of every set is a Zappa cover that the next band walks on a takes over. Seamless musical enchantment all day long.
Absolutely Free: A Working First Amendment
"I have four children, and I want them to grow up in a country that has a working First Amendment."
-- Frank Zappa, CBS Morning News, 9/18/1985
On the eve of his September 19,1985, testimony in defense of the First Amendment at a congressional committee hearing, Frank Zappa made that statement on the CBS Morning News, which, one would think, rings true for all people. In the years following his historic testimony, Frank Zappa made very clear what he meant by a "working First Amendment" through his art, his words, and his actions, and he would still be carrying the torch for Freedom of Expression if he were alive today. His legacy of free expression lives on through the body of work that he left behind, and to this day, the Zappa Family is dedicated to defending and educating people about that precious right which we, as Americans, so often take for granted.
On Frank Zappa Day 2011, join Gail and Ahmet Zappa, Emily Sheketoff of the American Library Association, and Maryland powerhouse lobbyist Bruce Bereano who brought Zappa before the MD Legislature in 1985 to testify against pending censorship legislation, for a discussion about what it means to our society to have a working First Amendment in the 21st Century and whether or not we are truly free to express ourselves now, 220 years after the ratification of the First Amendment.
Space is limited, and all seats available on a first come, first seated basis. (Reservations Accepted)
The Free Mind Award
The First Amendment enshrines the principle that freedom of thought and expression are essential to a free society. Adults must be free to decide for themselves, without governmental interference, what to read, write, sing, paint, draw, sculpt, photograph, play, see, and hear.
Based on this principle, and in collaboration with the Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Zappa Family Trust, the people gather on Frank Zappa Way in the city of Baltimore on this 5th Annual Frank Zappa Day to recognize local luminaries who have gained national recognition for their outstanding use of artistic freedom of expression to create unapologetic depictions of poignant socio-political issues in raw, refreshingly truthful commentary uncommonly found amongst their peers. They educate people while entertaining them, challenging them to feel deeply and think critically, and their work is a source of inspiration for storytellers, media makers, and champions of free expression everywhere.
Ahmet's Playhouse Creating and Communing with Ahmet Zappa
Join musician, actor, artist and writer Ahmet Zappa for a hands-on art activity for kids and their parents. Imagine yourself as a monster, and draw it on a T-shirt you can take home! Inspired by Ahmet’s book Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless, CA art teachers will have all the shirts and supplies you need, and Ahmet may just lend you a hand! Space is limited. (Reservations Accepted)
Like Frank Zappa, Edgar Allan Poe is one of Baltimore's most prolific champions of creative expression whose legacy has left an indelible mark on the artistic identity of this city. To raise awareness of the fundraising efforts to keep Baltimore’s Poe House & Museum open for business, curator Jeff Jerome hosts POEt House, a poetry reading at the Southeast Anchor Library featuring Gail Zappa, Maryland Poet Laureate Stanley Plumly, award-winning poet Greg Williamson, and some of this region’s most innovative emerging poets. "Poe" himself will make an appearance to recite The Raven.
Space is limited, and all seats available on a first come, first seated basis. (Reservations Accepted)
From the Zappa Vault: An Exclusive Screening of The True Story of 200 Motels
Using takes and rehearsals discarded from the original edit plus interviews made during the shooting, Zappa reconstructs the bizarre story of 200 Motels, one of the most problematic projects in his career. The shooting lasted a week and only a third of the original script was ever used. Director Tony Palmer resigned, asking to not credit him; the orchestra hired to play the background music boycotted the recording sessions. Amid the wreckage, Zappa himself had to take over directing and editing. The whole process is retold here, no words spared or minced. Join the Zappa family at the Creative Alliance for this exclusive screening followed by a Q&A session. (Reservations Accepted)
A "Barely" Socially Acceptable Spectacle of Body Art
Self explanatory- You've seen the photos from other festivals- like this: body art examples
Red Emma's Banned Book Fair
Red Emma's will be featuring books that have come under the attack of censors. Books banned around the globe will be available, as well as writings on free speech and expression. www.redemmas.org.
Charm City Skate Park HALF PIPE Shattered Guinness Records (& hopefully not bones)
Details coming soon....
James Taylor's "Shocked & Amazed" presents the Old City Side Show
featured weekly on 98 Rock
James Taylor knows sideshow and its stunning new wave of entertainers. Sword swallowers, fire eaters regurgitators, human pin cushions, torture kings, contortionists and motordrome riders look to James Taylor’s Shocked and Amazed! as the definitive source for all things strange and bizarre: All things sideshow. Shocked & Amazed website
Great Googly Moogly, it's the...Mobtown Wazoo! Official After Party & All Night Jam Session
Sure…the white zone is for loading and unloading only, but the Mobtown Wazoo is the zone where the ManiFESTo/ Frank Zappa Day celebration kicks up to 11! Join many of the day’s performers at the official after party of the festival that brings together amazing collaborations, improvisational music and performance in the spirit of the Zappa legacy of unfettered creative expression, raw talent, experimentation, and above all, a flagrant disregard for preconceived notions of style or genre. Hosted by the Creative Alliance. (Reservations Accepted)
