Waterville has become an arts hub, with more yet to come. For a plethora of summer music, art, film, food adventures, kids’ activities and more – read on.

Music
Waterville Rocks! again for four free, family-friendly outdoor concerts featuring regional acts for four fabulous summer Fridays in downtown Waterville’s Castonguay Square. Along with the music, this concert series offers a beer garden by The Proper Pig, purveying beverages and food for adults and the Stone Fox Farm Creamery Food Truck for kids of any age. The series debuts June 28 with the country, folk and rock of The Mallett Brothers Band and Hymn for Her’s backwoods country blues.

The second concert, scheduled for July 5, features an all-female lineup, including performances by rocker Kat Wright and Portland native Katie Matzell. Next comes a July 26 concert including the razor-sharp six strings of Tinsley Ellis and the mix of soul, new wave and more from Cold Engines. Waterville Rocks! closes with an Aug. 2 concert with the Celtic folk rock of Enter the Haggis and the contra-dance bluegrass of Tricky Britches.

All concerts begin at 5:30 p.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. Bring blankets and chairs. In case of rain concerts will move to the adjacent Waterville Opera House.

It’s banjos and only banjos when Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn rattle the Waterville Opera House rafters with their three-finger, claw-hammer style of expressing a range of emotions through their instruments. No accompaniment, no recorded backup, just these two brilliant musicians, live on stage for three hours. Thursday, Aug. 29, 8 to 11 p.m. Tickets $42-$53.

Art
It’s Art in the Park, at Common Street Arts, where teaching artists lead workshops and family-friendly activities in conjunction with the Waterville Farmers Market. Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m., June 6 through Aug. 29. Free.

Kids use metal tools and soldering irons to explore creating sculptures with metal fasteners at Maker Space Day, with Jon Moulton. June 15 at Common Street Arts, 10 Water St. The session begins at 1 p.m. Fee $20 for two participants. Ages 10 and up. Kids under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Not just for kids.

And now for something completely different: Art Happy Hour: 3-D Printed Earrings. Participants will create two sets of earrings using ready-to-assemble designs and learn more about the basics of 3-D printing. One free beer ticket redeemable at Waterville Brewing is included. June 26, 6-8 p.m., Waterville Brewing Company, 10 Water St., Suite 111. Fee $40. Ages 21 and up.

The Wednesday, Aug. 14, Art Happy Hour features expert potter Brian Soldano guiding participants in creating their own juniper bonsai at Waterville Brewing. Fee $40. Ages 21 and up.

Common Street Arts hosts a Beginning Wheel Clay Class monthly at 10 Water St., Suite 106. Each pottery class is six weeks in length, taking participants from basic aspects of wheel throwing through decoration and glazing. Fee $175. For details, consult watervillecreates.org.

The CSA Summer Art Camps bring four weeks of Monday through Friday morning fun to the gallery, all of which cost $125: Clay camp, July 15-19, for ages 7-12; animation camp, July 22-26, for ages 10-14; printer and maker camp, July 29-Aug. 2, for ages 10-14; and Maine Artist camp, Aug. 12-16, for ages 8-12.

Lost + Found: Photographs by Susan Metzger continues through June 29 at Common Street Arts. Scenes of Maine farmhouses, farmland, open fields and outbuildings in central Maine. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to noon. Closed Sunday.

Common Street Arts and the Waterville Area Art Society co-host the 2019 Maine Open Juried Art Show August 12 through September 7. Opening reception Thursday, Aug. 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Gallery.

Theater & entertainment
The Waterville Opera House, 1 Common St., “Ripcord,” a “funny, inappropriate and heartfelt” profanity-sprinkled tale of two very different senior citizens, starring Birdie Newman Katz and Marie Cormier. Show time is 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 14-15 and June 21-22 and at 2 p.m. Sunday June 16 and June 23. Tickets $21-$24.

The Peking Acrobats perform their precision, precarious acrobatic stunts in a gravity-defying display of technical prowess in the Waterville Opera House from 8 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 6. Tickets $32-$43.

Opera and ballet come to the Waterville Opera House via HD broadcasts. At noon on Saturday, June 22, New York’s Metropolitan Opera’s encore performance of “Dialogues des Carmélites” fills the theater with this “devastating story of faith and martyrdom.” Run time three hours, ten minutes with one intermission. Tickets $17-$23.

At 12:55 on Sunday, June 30, the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet performs “Carmen,” a story of a passionate woman caught in a self-made love triangle, and “Petrushka,” a tale of love and jealousy among three puppets, via an encore performance from Moscow on Sunday, June 30. Run time two hours, including one intermission. Tickets $15-$18.

Theater camps for children
In conjunction with the nationally-recognized Missoula Children’s Theater, the Waterville Opera House mounts three Monday through Friday children’s camps: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” July 29-Aug. 3; “Robinson Crusoe,” Aug. 5-10, and “Pinocchio,” Aug. 12-17.

These hands-on opportunities for children in grades 1-8 teach participants the theatrical process from staging to an actual performance. Fee is $220 per camp, or $550 for all three. Scholarships and discounts may be available. For details and registration forms, please visit operahouse.org.

Community
PechaKucha Night Waterville, Castonguay Square, July 11 begins with a 6:20 p.m. reception followed by presentations at 7:20 p.m. Submissions due by June 10. This creative networking event centers on storytelling in 20×20 – 20 slides, each accompanied by 20 seconds of commentary.

Downtown Waterville Farmers Market sets up at Head of Falls from 2 to 6 p.m. each Thursday. This “100% producer-only market” means buying direct from the producer. The fresh air is free.

For a schedule of regular and periodic events at the award-winning Waterville Public Library, please visit their Facebook page or their website at watervillelibrary.org.

The Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce takes it outdoors for the June 11 Waterville GreenDrinks, hosted by KV Connect. This opportunity for young professionals to connect takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. at Riverwalk at Head of Falls.

Enjoy more fresh air at the June 17 Chamber Golf Classic at Natanis Golf Course, 735 Webber Pond Road, Vassalboro with an 11 a.m. shotgun start. Teams are full, but volunteers will be welcome.
Campbell’s True Value, 30 Garland Road, Winslow hosts the June 19 Business After Hours. From 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. the Chamber invites the community at large to attend this free business community networking opportunity and enjoy appetizers, adult libations and door prizes.

Enjoy dining al fresco with thousands of your closest personal friends at the Chamber’s annual Taste of Waterville. Beginning at 11 a.m. on Aug. 7 food trucks and booths line The Concourse. Area agencies provide family-friendly activities throughout the day. Mix and match local cuisines from several restaurants on Main Street beginning at 5 p.m. Live music from the beer/wine garden opening at 5 p.m. floats through the air until 11 p.m. The perfect ambiance for catching up with old friends.

For information on Chamber events, please call 207- 873-3315 or consult their website at midmainechamber.com.

People take their seats as the Maine Shorts Program begins at the Waterville Opera House during the Maine International Film Festival at the Waterville Opera House on July 14, 2018. Morning Sentinel file photo by Michael G. Seamans

Film
Film aficionados from all over the world will again converge in Waterville July 12-21 for the annual Maine International Film Festival, also known as MIFF. More than 100 films showcase American independent and international cinema at the Waterville Opera House and on the three screens of the Railroad Square Cinema. World premieres, special guests, concerts, classic restorations and an abundance of Maine films populate the Festival schedule.

This year’s MIFF will be dedicated to the memory of actress Verna Bloom and to iconic director Bernardo Bertolucci.

The festival’s centerpiece will be the world premiere of a film called “The Gathering,” about some jazz musicians from the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles.

“There will be a concert following the world premiere by some of those musicians,” says Ken Eisen, Programming Director of the Maine Film Center at Railroad Square Cinema and MIFF. The film premieres Tuesday evening, July 16 at the Waterville Opera House.

Films from at least a dozen countries, including the U. S., Russia, France, Germany, Uruguay, Argentina, Hungary, Mexico, Iran, China, Turkey and Great Britain illustrate the global spectrum of today’s cinematic talent.

Waterville Opera House is located at 1 Common St. and Railroad Square Cinema is at 17 Railroad Square. Please check online for the full MIFF schedule at MIFF.org.