December 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 36

I N N O V AT I V E C E L E B R AT I O N S

the world for all ages, drawing crowds of
listeners to Japanese Daiko drummers,
Irish folk music, a cappella ensembles and
jazz. A roaming jug band - complete with
washboard and homemade instruments -
plays impromptu performances throughout the warmer months and organically
draws park users to them, often resulting
in a crowd clapping along to the Appalachian-influenced tunes.
Adults aren't the only ones grooving to
music at Schenley Plaza. The Parks Conservancy and its programming partners
have made kid-friendly activities a lynchpin of the space. Five months of the year,
the space is host to weekly afternoon-long
Kids Day events that include storytelling
musicians, face painting, balloon artists and
games that get kids up and moving. One
event includes a massive 8-foot-tall inflated
beach ball that can often be seen rolling
across the Emerald Lawn with a crowd
of laughing children chasing after it. Costumed characters, free PNC Carousel rides
and nature-centric games of memory round
out the day, with kids and their adults alike
leaving smiling and happy with the new
friends they've made.
Innovative event programming for older

Shawn Fertitta

Indeed, Schenley Plaza has been the
center of public gatherings of support for
a wide range of headline issues, from the
Standing Rock Sioux Dakota Access Pipeline and Black Lives Matter, to solidarity
with France after the 2015 Paris terrorist
attacks. The recent Doctors Without Borders " Forced From Home " interactive
exhibit recreated portions of a refugee
camp in Schenley Plaza, drawing thousands over a five-day period. Escape rafts,
camp tents and a heartbreaking interactive
component that replicates the decisions
refugees must make about what to leave
behind made for a powerful and deeply
personal encounter. " It was amazing to
see attendees of every background, ethnicity and age all bringing their own ideas to
the event. It's beautiful to see them arrive
at a place of empathy together by the end
of the experience, " says Fertitta.
Each June, the annual summer concert
series with public radio station WYEP kicks
off a Summer Music Festival that draws
several thousand revelers. Final Fridays
concerts on the last Friday of each summer
month round out the festival and include
nature art, animal track and scat identification, and other fun kid-oriented activities.
Schenley Plaza hosts music from around
ound

kids at heart has turned into citywide events
that garner significant media coverage for
Schenley Plaza and the Parks Conservancy.
The Great American Water Balloon Fight
(www.greatamericanwaterballoonfight.org)
- a collaborative effort between Haiti-dedicated nonprofit Team Tassy and Schenley
Plaza - was fun at its most visual, with
3,000 people throwing more than 100,000
water balloons at each other. Team-building
events before and after the fight saw partner
organizations and volunteers filling water
balloons, assisting in event setup and taking
part in crime scene-like cleanup sweeps for
burst balloon bits that ensured the space was
left in pristine shape.
Local resources were celebrated at the
weekend-long Sand City Spectacular, where
200 tons of special construction grade sand,
mined from a pit in western Pennsylvania,
was molded into awe-inspiring forms by
sand sculptors from seven countries. Pogopalooza brought kids and adults alike from
every corner of the city to Schenley Plaza
to witness a four-day extravaganza of competitions, performances and gravity-defying
pogo-stick demonstrations. Implementing
programming that attracts older kids and
young-adults is both practical - considering the plaza's location among the collegiate set - and forward-thinking. " Engaging young adults and providing a backdrop
for lifelong park memories can eventually
lead them to become dedicated park supporters, " says Fertitta.
Health and spiritual wellness are another key programming tenet, with a goal of
Plaza users feeling deeply connected to the
outdoors and the health benefits nature
provides. Weekly yoga classes do sun salutations with the majestic Mary Schenley
Memorial Fountain, also known as A Song
to Nature, in the background, and tai chi
draws men and women of all ages, moving
in unison on the crisp green Emerald Lawn.
Line dancing to country, pop and R&B music is a stress reducer - and just plain fun
The Great American Water Balloon Fight takes
place on Schenley Plaza's Emerald Lawn.

Parks & Recreation

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December 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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