Meeting Competition
To meet this competition, the Quincy festival has undertaken one of the most thoroughly executed advertising campaigns in the House's history. Over 700 posters have been put up "wherever possible" around Harvard, at other colleges in the area, and in the art galleries and major museums of Boston. Ads have appeared in most of the Boston dailies and college newspapers, and spot announcements have been aired on local radio stations for the past week. In addition, nearly every mailbox at Harvard has been stuffed with one of a variety of mimeographed leaflets.
Such a sales pitch is not typical of most cultural activities at Harvard, and it exemplifies one of the advantages of a performing arts festival. By planning a series of events within an eleven-day period extending through April 30, the Quincy festival organizers have already established a momentum that carries over from one event to another. The total advertising for the festival has been far more effective than publicity for a single event ever could be.
But the festival of the performing arts is more than a series of single events. There are characteristics of a "festival event" that distinguish it from most other concerts, recitals, and film showings. The House festival event is convenient and informal. It often makes available a kind of programming that is not possible when only a single event is being presented.
At a special House dinner inaugurating the Quincy Arts Festival, William Alfred read from his play "Hogan's Goat." But before he did, he warned, "Please be comfortable, shuffle around, move your chairs, and rattle your glasses. I won't be comfortable unless you are comfortable." That tone characterized the entire evening. With his quips, explanations, and his three different degrees of Irish brogue, the evening proved neither a performance of the play, nor a reading, but something in between.
The same unique informal spirit pervaded the folk concert Wednesday night in Quincy. Although the program was being taped for WHRB rebroacast, students and their dates sat in chairs and on tables around the crowded dining hall.
Another advantage of the festival is that it enhances programming that might otherwise be overlooked in the notice columns and underattended in the House common rooms. The festival of the performing arts can focus attention on a series of unusual performances which would appear less attractive if isolated.
For example, the Adams House Arts Festival will illustrate its theme May 14-20 with samples of Russian culture drawn from throughout the Harvard community. Yet few at Harvard have been aware of them. Much of the Kilgour Collection of rare copies and first editions in Russian literature and music, now in Houghton Library, will be on display in