Provincetown’s Carnival Parade will be back this year on Thursday, August 17, and plans are well underway with “Land of Toys” as the theme.
Its organizers, the Provincetown Business Guild (PBG), just announced the launch of their Carnival Parade Artists Matchmaking Program. In 2022, the PBG piloted the initiative to pair Provincetown artists with local businesses to create floats for the annual Carnival Parade.
“We were looking for a way to inspire creativity for the businesses participating in the Carnival Parade, especially for the first parade in three years,” says Trevor Pittinger, Associate Director of the PBG. “Producing a float for Carnival takes a lot of time, energy, and resources, things that are not always easy for Ptown businesses to come by. This program made perfect sense to involve and engage Provincetown artists, pay them for their work, and help ensure the creativity of the parade truly represents Ptown as the oldest continuously running artist colony.”
The pilot program was a great success, with five sponsored floats created last year from partnerships between businesses and local artists for Bay State Cruise Lines, Linchris Hospitality, and The Crown & Anchor.
“I was overjoyed when the PBG brought this up last year,” says Mike Glasfeld, owner of Bay State Cruise Company. “I feel strongly about supporting the arts and artists community in Ptown, especially as the town becomes more gentrified and certain resources are no longer accessible to artists. Plus, to make this mode of artist community support so visible and to connect it to the business community is incredibly smart.”
“People were blown away by the inclusion of so much art in last year’s parade,” said Stephan Hengst, executive director of the Provincetown Business Guild. “It felt like the Carnival parades of yesteryear, a floating, walking art gallery showcasing our amazing and talented community of artists.”
This year artists will assist businesses with creative visibility and interpretation of the 2023 Carnival theme, Land of Toys. Businesses that participate can choose from a self-propelled or a large float. Both levels come with carnival float concept and creation by an artist, registration, insurance, and audio/visual outfitting.
The program officially launched on February 26, with an information session at The Commons restaurant in Provincetown.
From a Provincetown Business Guild press release
More: ptown.org
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