Artpark 2012 season schedule

"First Niagara presents Tuesday in the Park"

All concerts are rain or shine and start at 6:30 p.m.

Click here for more on "Tuesday in the Park"

"Coors Light Wednesdays at Artpark"

All concerts are free and start at 6:30 p.m.

Special Events

Artpark's Mainstage Theater will host a handful of special events starting with Sting on June 12 presented by LiveNation; progressive-metal band Dream Theater performs on June 17 presented by 103.3 The Edge and 97 Rock; multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird takes the stage in a Funtime Presents Event on July 16; Jane's Addiction performs with Mute Math on Aug. 20; and Artpark has "An Evening with Bob Dylan" on Sept. 6. Visit the Artpark website for ticket information.

"Sundays in July"

Rodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella

Artpark Mainstage Theater

Ticket prices for adults are $45, $39.50, $33 and $25. Children age 12 and under are $22.50, $19.75, $16.50 and $12.50.

"Free Family Movie Night"

Grab your chairs and flashlights and head to Artpark's Outdoor Amphitheater on the evening of Aug. 13th (at dusk) for the fifth annual "Free Family Movie Night" this year featuring "The Muppets." The whole family will love watching The Muppets' latest adventure on the big Jumbotron screen under the stars.

The Lewiston Kiwanis Club sponsors this family event.

Stay up-to-date with all of Artpark's events by regularly checking www.wnypapers.com.

For more information, or for tickets, visit www.artpark.net.

Artpark promises biggest summer season ever

Venue books A-list performers including Sheryl Crow, Sublime, Huey Lewis

Preview by Joshua Maloni

The phrase "You get what you pay for" has never rung true at Artpark.

Until now.

For 10 years, Artpark & Company brought rock 'n' roll legends to Lewiston and didn't charge a dime for tickets. Audiences, in the 5,000-to-15,000-range, were able to watch performances by such acts as Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Michael McDonald and America, for free, as part of the "Tuesday in the Park" concert series.

But when crowds started to reach the 30,000 mark in 2011, Artpark & Company realized this concert format was not going to work in the Village of Lewiston. At the behest of residents, elected officials and local leaders, who said such an influx of people wasn't practical for a one-square-mile village, the Artpark board opted to make a significant change for the 2012 summer season.

At a press conference in March, Artpark & Company President George Osborne said, "In response to our patrons' concerns about overcrowded conditions for Tuesday concerts, the new amphitheater is being fenced and gated and we anticipate limiting the size of the crowds to between 10,000 and 12,000."

To facilitate this action, "This year, a ticket will be required to enter the concerts and, for a majority of the concerts, the price will be $5 in advance," Osborne said.

Artpark & Company will charge between $5 and $15 for this summer's "Tuesday in the Park" concerts (see ad on next page). The full schedule was announced at a press conference on Tuesday at the Barton Hill Hotel & Spa in Lewiston.

The ticket cost should preclude stragglers from wandering into the park and bumping attendance figures. The new crowd control measure will "make it a better experience all the way around," said Artpark & Company Board Chairman Christopher Brown.

For Artpark & Company, the decision to charge admission for the "Tuesday in the Park" concert series wasn't seen as a negative. The new revenue source allowed Osborne to book acts far surpassing past lineups in terms of star power. This year's headliners include Sheryl Crow, Yes, Huey Lewis & The News, Sublime and Roger Hodgson of Supertramp.

With a free concert series, "We couldn't have had this lineup - not quite," Osborne said. "We wouldn't have been able to afford it, in all honesty."

"They're all bands that sell a lot of tickets," he said. "We had a lot of competition from Fallsview and Casino Niagara."

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