Ignite Peoria – Arts and Makers Fest Returns to the Peoria Civic Center!
Saturday, August 13 | 9am – 5pm
Free Admission
Peoria, Ill. – ArtsPartners of Central Illinois is pleased to present Ignite Peoria, central Illinois’s premiere arts and makers fest, at the Peoria Civic Center on Saturday, August 13 from 9am – 5pm. The one-day festival is free to the public and showcases hundreds of local makers, musicians, artists, innovators, dancers, and actors, in one STEAM inspired interactive day of fun and learning that is perfect for the whole family.
“ArtsPartners is bringing this event back in person after a 3-year hiatus due to the pandemic,” notes executive director Jenn Gordon. “The event relies on the robust participation of the arts and makers communities. That we are able to bring it back this year is a true testament to the resiliency of the artists, makers, performers, designers, innovators, and musicians who live and work in central Illinois. This will be an inspiring day for everyone who attends!”
Located inside the Peoria Civic Center’s Exhibition Halls, the event features over 100 interactive booths and workshops, 2 performance stages, and a live professional fashion photo shoot, providing a full day of free immersive arts, innovation, and makers experiences for attendees.
The Ignite Peoria Main Stage will feature performances by Coach Bre Cottage, Corn Stock Theatre, The Penguin Players, Nitsch Theatre Arts, ART Inc, Peoria Ballet, PAPAS (Peoria Area Performing Arts Studio), Peoria Players Theatre, Central Illinois Ballet, John Wahl, FASCI (Filipino-American Society of Central Illinois), Peoria Magicians Assembly, Carl Bopp, and Don’t Start with Warith Muhammad.
The Follow Your Arts Corridor will offer a range of interactive arts activities, demonstrations, and experiences offered by Nitsch Theatre Arts, ART Inc., PAPAS, Peoria Ballet, Peoria Area Civic Chorale, FASCI, Morton Fall Events, Youth Music Illinois, MusiqueBaux LLC, Corn Stock Theatre, Central Illinois Ballet, Peoria Magicians Assembly, Global Village, Carl Bopp, Art of Mitchell Blumenshine, Peoria Art Guild, Jeremy Berkley, Kiley Beecher Creative, Aerial Brina & Small Town Circus, Peoria PlayHouse, Peoria Symphony Orchestra, Embers Comix, Peoria Con, Jeremiah Lambert Art, Art By Quinton, Tom’s Art Works, 22VA, Cameron Johnson, Kagan Masters, Peoria Guild of Black Artists, Sky Art Peoria, Ann Patuscha, Joshua Hawkins, Hopewell Weaving, Illinois Art League, Wheels O’Time Museum, Big Picture, American Sewing Guild, After Our Creator, Mystic Tomes & Treasures, Peoria Music Live, Peoria Public Library, Fondulac District Library, Fine Arts Society of Peoria, Art at the Bodega, Artful This of Central Illinois, WCBU Peoria Public Radio, Henna by Poonam Patel, EP!C, TarynGraceArt, Wild Routed, AerFire 309, All Around Photography, Center for Youth and Family Solutions, Whiskey Crawler, and KM Jewelry Design.
Located within the Follow Your Arts Corridor, Fashion Ignite will feature 4 live fashion photo shoot setups, with professional models, make-up artists, hairdressers and photographers. Led by visionary Lily Scalf, design themes this year include plastics, microplastics, greenwashing and carbon footprints. The shoots will be avant garde, and high concept, allowing the public to experience what goes into a professional fashion photo shoot from start to finish.
Midwest Makerfest will be located in Exhibit Hall C and will feature DIY projects, a flying drone course, 3D printing, robotics, resin casting, shape memory alloy demonstrations, cosplay, engineering and coding games, displays, and more. Participants include: Proejct R3D, Rakia Dial, Factory42 Designs, RCL Forge, Spook Hollow, Code Ninjas, ASM Peoria Chapter, Tiefilings Workshop, Distillery Labs, Theadore Gray, FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics, John Troglio, FOLEPI, Lux Blox, We Hear You ASL, 501st Legion, Illinois Multirotor Drone Course, CI Ghostbusters, Maker 86 industries, and River City Labs. Notably, Natural Fiber Welding will be on site making MIRUM®, their categorically new, plant-based material. Visitors will be able to take home a piece of this material that they mix and create!
New this year, The Launchpad, is a smaller stage launching the next phase of performance in the Greater Peoria area. Performers include: Audrey Karen Voss, Erech & Devin, Spoken Word Artists of Peoria, SUMESH, Logan Streitmatter, Victoria Allen, Kirk Wessler, and the students of the Underground School of Sound. The Launchpad will also feature the Peoria Music Community Pickin’ Circle, a space where the public can bring their own acoustic instruments to play along and sing together. The Launchpad will be located at the back of Exhibit Hall C.
Workshops will be offered in Rooms 134 – 136, located adjacent to Exhibit Hall A and will include workshops by FIRST Tech Challenge, Nitsch Theatre Arts, and authors Rey Clark and Trever Bierschbach. Workshops are free, however advanced registration is recommended. To learn more or register visit: https://artspartners.net/ignite-peoria/
Sensory Ignite is a special area of festival designed to gently spark creativity, serving attendees with sensory sensitivities and special needs. It will be located outside of Exhibit Hall C near the Monroe Street Entrance and will feature interactive activities and resources provided by Child’s Nature, Easterseals, Peoria PlayHouse, Dash ABA, STARnet, People with Unlimited Potential, The Penguin Project, EP!C, Pretendly, Steph’s Stickers, CI Autism Association, Picket Fence, Blue Ridge Farms, Dept. of Rehabilitation Services, OSF Children’s Hospital of IL, The Arc of Illinois, Connected Pediatric Intervention, The Autism Collective, and HISRA. Sensory Ignite is equipped with an adulting changing room and a quiet room to support the needs of attendees.
A full schedule of performances and workshops is available at https://artspartners.net/ignite-peoria/ along with full festival details and an interactive map.
Admission to Ignite Peoria is free to the public with support from the City of Peoria, and the Peoria Civic Center – SMG. Ignite Peoria is also made possible in part from a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, and a grant from the Gilmore Fund at the Community Foundation of Central Illinois.
ArtsPartners of Central Illinois promotes the arts as a vital component of central Illinois’ cultural and economic development. Founded in 1999, ArtsPartners of Central Illinois, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to build awareness and strengthen the arts for the economic and cultural enrichment of central Illinois.
MEDIA CONTACT: Jenn Gordon, Executive Director, ArtsPartners | 309-258-1327 | [email protected]