What Not to Miss at the Breckenridge International Festival of Arts
The 2018 Breckenridge International Festival of Arts (BIFA) returns to the high country with its celebration of adventure, play and creativity from August 10–19, 2018. From skateboarding mashups and musicians in trees to trailside harmonies and a hidden giant in the woods, BIFA offers an exhilarating program of extraordinary events in spectacular places and spaces across Breckenridge, Colorado.
Inspired by themes of environment and mountain culture, the 10-day festival brings together a variety of performances, exhibitions, screenings, workshops, talks and surprise collaborations, with an eclectic mix of music, dance, film, visual arts and family entertainment.
“BIFA is a spectacular convergence of arts, ideas and people, bringing together the work of internationally renowned creatives with extraordinary regional talent,” said Robb Woulfe, President and CEO of Breckenridge Creative Arts, the festival’s producer. “Our fourth season will once again transform the town’s parks, plazas, trails and other public spaces into an artistic playground that is sure to ignite the imaginations of our guests.”
Andrew Bird [Photo by Shervin Lainez]
Highlights of 2018 BIFA
See Danish artist Thomas Dambo with a new commission of one of his large-scale giant sculptures made from recycled materials; singer-songwriter, fiddler and whistler extraordinaire Andrew Bird with special guest Neyla Pekarek; renowned Boulder-based stone balancing artist Michael Grab creating free-standing rock sculptures in the Blue River.
Michael Grab
Edina Tokodi
Two separate eco-minded exhibitions—one on the interior of Old Masonic Hall entitled Tempting Landscapes by New York- based Hungarian artist Edina Tokodi, who fuses landscape art with real materials found in the outdoors, and another installation on the exterior of Old Masonic Hall entitled Nature Will Not Miss Us by Denver-based sculptor Nicole Banowetz, who creates large inflatables based on microscopic worlds.
Nicole Banowetz
BIFA brings back its popular Trail Mix series, which combines art, music, hiking and biking along the trails of Breckenridge through free outdoor concerts and environmental installations.
Another nature-inspired program new to the festival this year is Chirp!, an al fresco musical experience that features Denver-based performance ensemble Chimney Choir with guest singers Natalie Tate and Evan McCandless. Harmonizing their voices to create an ethereal atmosphere in the forest, each concert in this new series features a vocal soundscape performed along a wooded trail.
