The Columbia Festival of the Arts, in partnership with The Howard County Government with additional support from the Columbia Association, will be the hosts for the Long Reach Village Center’s Celebration of it’s 50th Anniversary. Festivities will take place on October 15, 5 – 9 pm and October 16, 11 am – 9 pm at the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia, Maryland. The program includes free concerts and a fine arts and crafts show featuring 20 artists with many items for sale. There will be family-friendly craft projects from Doodle Hatch and oversized games to play. Also happening will be the permanent public art installation of the mural, “Above the Sea,” sponsored by the United Way of Maryland. On Saturday you can catch a kids’ comedy and magic show featuring Elizabeth Normand and magician Charlie Ross. Other merchants and arts organizations include the African Art Museum, Roll Up n Dye, Columbia Art’s Center, Began Soul Bakery, Every Kid Can Cook, Power 52, Community Action Council of Howard County, and more. There will also be local food trucks both days.
Schedule of Performances
October 15
5:00 pm Damon Foster – plays his own brand of funk rock with a tinge of jazz
6:30 pm Squonk Opera – “Fast, funny, shameless and inclusive: an art that will include the cheap thrills of a monster truck show, as well as the fragile beauty of the hothouse flowers created in artists’ lofts.”
7:15 pm LADAMA – “A vivid montage of music of the Americas”
October 16
11:00 am Las Hermanas Gonzalez – Mexican Folk Music
11:45 am Dogo du Togo – A band with Togolese rhythms
1:00 pm Chris Pierce – Recording acoustic guitarist and singer
2:15 pm Squonk Opera
3:00 pm Marielle Kraft – Indie pop singer and songwriter
4:00 pm Poet Gyle Danley – Past national and international slam poetry champion
4:15 pm The JoGo Project – Fusion jazz ensemble
5:30 pm Squonk Opera
6:15 pm The 19th Street Band – “Americana, country and rock with a taste of punk”
7:30 pm Vanessa Collier – Blues saxophonist and singer
This writer moved to Long Reach in 1984 and lived here until 1992. I moved back in 2005, just a few blocks from my first home. It is hard to believe how much the Village has changed and yet stayed the same. The most noticeable change has been in the Village Center which now home to many art centers and shops. Gone are the supermarkets, produce stores, and some local restaurants. However, one of Columbia’s oldest communities remains ethically diverse and its public grounds still are a wonderful window on nature. As Columbia has grown into the second largest city in Maryland, it also remains a beacon for the arts and culture. This 50th Anniversary Celebration incorporates all the wonderful fabric of the current community. I hope you will join me on October 15-16, 2021 at the Long Reach Village Center, located at 8775 Cloudleap Court in Columbia. The program is all outdoors. If there is inclement weather, the celebration will either move indoors or will not be rescheduled.
For more information about the Long Reach 50th Anniversary Celebration, go to this link. There will be parking and shuttle service from Long Reach High School. For more information about the Columbia Festival of the Arts go to their website.
