Founded in 2013, FireFish Arts aims to create “a bold new vision and model of arts event-based civic engagement, commerce, and enterprise through which downtown Lorain, the community, and region can work toward building a renewed creative economy.”
Held three years ago, the organization’s inaugural FireFish Festival, a music and arts festival that features visual art installations and fire performers, reportedly drew 10,000 attendees.
Now, organizers have just announced that this year’s event, which takes place from 5 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 6 and from 2 to 11 p.m. on Oct. 7, will expand to two days. It will feature a percussion parade that will culminate in the burning of the ceremonial fish, and Lorain’s store fronts and abandoned buildings will become makeshift art galleries along Broadway. The street itself will become a live piece of artwork including Kevin Jackson’s video installation. Even Lorain's old post office will be illuminated.
“We are excited to expand the Festival this year to two days, offering more opportunity for Northeastern Ohioans of all ages to experience this unforgettable one-of-a-kind festival,” says Executive Director James Levin in a press release. “We are thrilled to be attracting high profile artists wanting to be a part of the creative FireFish experience and hope to continue to draw thousands of new visitors to this hidden gem on the water that is becoming known as an art mecca.”
Teen arts "apprentices" from the FireFish Arts Summer STEAM Academy, located this year at the new LCCC Campana Center of Ideation and Invention, will again create the festival's centerpiece, a giant FireFish sculpture that comes to life spewing fire.
“We are proud to support the FireFish Festival and cultural events in the communities where we live and work,” says Dee Lowery, president of the FirstEnergy Foundation, the festival's presenting sponsor. “This is just another way FirstEnergy works to improve the quality of life for all our customers.”
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