Shandaken Pan Arts festival comes to a venue near you

Native Tongue Dance (Bill Barrett, lead singer, shown above with Maria Todaro at Mama's Boy in Phoenicia) headlines Saturday's Shandaken Pan Arts Festival kick-off. 

The Shandaken Pan Arts festival kicks off 10 days of music, art and writing in venues spread around the town of Shandaken with Native Tongue Dance getting things started this Saturday night at Phoenicia's The Arts Upstairs at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $5.

Highlights include studio visits, available by appointment all festival long (a complete list is available at the festival's website), a "bonfire rave" featuring a conch shell orchestra, and a performance by the Phoenicia choir to close the 10-day party, with events scattered in between that celebrate the area's history and prodigious creative output.

Correction: An earlier version of this story identified "Native Tongue" instead of "Native Tongue Dance" as the performers for Saturday night's festivities. Apologies for any confusion this may have caused.