Arts Alive: 1st Puerto Rican Festival this weekend

Head over to Fort Mellon Park this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. where Sanford’s first annual Puerto Rican Festival will host special guests Blanca Mantilla, Poesia Negroroide, Grupo Swing, and many, many more.
This event features live music, dancing, food and vendors, a kid’s zone, prizes, raffles and a full day of fun. Come one, come all, this event is free and open to the public.

Sketch & Kvetch

Kvetch
(v) To complain, especially chronically. 2. (n) A person who kvetches. Introduced into the English language around 1960 from the Yiddish kvetshn, to squeeze, to pinch, press. From the German quetsche, crusher, presser.  
Rabbitfoot Records is doing their part to support the local arts community by hosting a “Sketch & Kvetch” next Tuesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. Bring a sketch pad and supplies for a couple of hours devoted to training your hands and eyes to their expression.
While this event is free and open to the public, you ought to buy some nibbles or records to thank the good owners for their concern.

Little Fish, HUGE Pond
    
LFHP will holds open mic nights on Thursday when local favorite Chuck Culbertson leads the show.
Friday brings a free show from Dana Massive, this electric indie/pop group that brings the boogie.
On Saturday, The Black Velvet Band, an uptempo Irish jig from Tampa taking their name from the classic song will take to the stage and kick up their heels.
These free events are open to the public and kick off at 9 p.m.
    
The Alley
    
Sanford’s finest blues establishment, The Alley, will host Buddy Blues this Saturday evening and The Honey Slides on Sunday.
Buddy’s clean, funky, worldly edge is rooted squarely in traditional blues with exotic and exciting visits to foreign lands.
The Honey Slides are local dudes who have been playing together for over 7 years and manage to fuse “southern-fried funk, blue-eyed soul and scorching slide guitar” in one fabulous group.
Both shows are free and open to the public and kick off around 9 p.m.   

The Sanford Camera Club Hosts Susan Francis
    
The Sanford Camera Club will meet next Wednesday, July 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Historic Sanford Welcome Center where Susan Francis, owner of the Harmon School of Photography will offer a presentation and dialogue on “Ten Techniques to Taking Better Digital Photography.”
Susan’s decade of ownership and experience teaching photography at a camera shop uniquely positions her to be in touch with the latest technology and she’s equipped to explain how it can best be used.
This overview class will be presented in powerpoint form and promises to cover basics such as aperture settings, shutter speed and iso sensitivity.
This event is free and open to the public.

Jessica Pirani can be reached at JessieBerger@yahoo.com