Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright Headline Downtown's River to River Festival

By DNAinfo Staff on April 20, 2011 3:15pm  | Updated on April 20, 2011 3:14pm

Paul-Andre Fortier performed on a plaza in the Financial District last summer as part of the River to River Festival.
Paul-Andre Fortier performed on a plaza in the Financial District last summer as part of the River to River Festival.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Yepoka Yeebo

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Patti Smith will lead an all-star roster of performers and artists for the 10th anniversary of Downtown's River to River Festival this summer.

The festival, which will be held between June 19th to July 16th at locations throughout Lower Manhattan including Governor's Island and World Financial Center, was founded in 2002 to revitalize the neighborhood after 9/11.

"This year's River To River Festival boasts an extraordinary mix of artists who either call New York City home or who have been inspired by the city's incredible creativity and vitality," said Sam Miller, president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, in a statement.

Smith, who chronicled her years as a burgeoning rock star in the East Village in her recent memoir "Just Kids," will perform at Castle Clinton monument in Battery Park July 14.

Other performers will include Rufus Wainwright and members of the New York City Opera singing excerpts from the Prima Donna opera at the World Financial Center Winter Garden June 28. And Sean Lennon's band The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger performs at the Seaport on June 24.

In a highly-interactive version of Shakespeare's "Henry V," the New York Classical Theatre will perform at both Castle Clinton in Battery Park and Castle William on Governor's Island, with a free ferry service shuttling the audience between the two locations.

This year's festival also marks the first time the LMCC will run the programming. The Downtown Alliance had previously orchestrated the event.

Organizers said that, with the change in management, the festival would show a more unified programming.

All of the shows at the festival will be free for the public.