Joan Baez to play Reno's Artown festival in July

Nearly two-thirds of the events are free at various venues around town, many at Wingfield Park on a downtown island in the Truckee River surrounded by a kayaking and whitewater rafting park.

About 300,000 people attended last year. Officials estimate Artown has had an economic impact on the city in the neighborhood of $100 million since it began in 1996 with about 100 events spread over three weeks.

"There’s an upbeat energy that permeates Reno each July and we’re thrilled that Artown can have that sort of impact,” the festival’s executive director, Beth Macmillan, said Thursday.

The prevalence of free events helped Artown earn "Access to Artistic Excellence” grants form the National Endowment for the Arts each of the last two years, she said.

"To say that we’ve been able to grow the festival to include so many events and genres and accommodate the number of attendees seen in recent years is phenomenal,” Macmillan said.

It "speaks to the strength of Artown to draw national-level performances to push the artist envelop for not only our organization but the local community,” she said.

The Nevada Museum of Art, Nevada Opera and Nevada Repertory Theater are among the local contributors.

Baez is to perform July 6 at the Robert Z. Hawkins Amphitheater at Bartley Ranch south of downtown, the same stage where the rock-and-roll boogie band Little Feat will play a concert to raise money for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada on July 9.

Artown will feature seven "festivals within the festival,” including for the first time the "Americana Festival” at Virginia City July 9-11.

The town, which sits at an elevation of 6,200 feet about 30 miles southeast of Reno, is the largest federally designated National Historic Landmark in the country. It features pioneer cemeteries dating to the mid-1850s, the refurbished Piper’s Opera House and mansions of the famous silver barons who ruled the Comstock.

Macmillan said its shops, museums, saloons and street corners will be filled with music and dance along with jam sessions in a variety of genres such as bluegrass, Celtic, swing and folk — most of it free.

Other festivals exploring art and culture through specialty foods, dance and more include the 44th annual Basque festival on July 24 and Gospel Fest July 25, both free.

Weekly events at Wingfield Park include Movies in the Park on Friday nights. This year’s lineup includes "Shrek” and "Some Like It Hot.”

The Wednesday night World Music Series will include Moshav, a Los Angeles-based band with roots in Israel that combines such diverse influences as American folk rock, Jewish culture and reggae on July 7.

The Afro-Cuban All-Stars will merge the musical styles of Cuba from bolero to chachacha on July 14, and Parno Grazst will bring his Hungarian gypsy music to the park July 21, complete with accordion, spoons, milk churn and "oral bass.”

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On the Net:

Reno Artown: http://www.RenoIsArtown.com

Virginia City: http://www.virginiacity-nv.org

Nevada Commission on Tourism: http://www.travelnevada.com