Lakeside picnics, concerts at June 27 Grove Festival

LAKEVILLE — Once again, Project Troubador will host the Grove Festival on the shores of Lake Wononscopomuc, bringing a taste of foreign arts and culture to the little town of Salisbury.

Everyone is invited to attend. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. The funds pay for the expenses for the performers; this is not a fundraiser for Project Troubador but a way for the Salisbury-based organization to give area residents (and Troubador supporters) a glimpse of what the group does abroad.

Project Troubador sends groups of performers to countries in the developing world on outreach missions. “For the millions of people who long to believe that there are those in the ‘land of plenty’ aware of their circumstance, Project Troubador is hope from afar,†said Eliot Osborn, a founder of the group with his wife, Louise Lindenmeyr.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Grove Festival. The first act of the evening will be Osborn, Lindenmeyr and their performing partner, George Potts, and their band, the Joint Chiefs, performing folk and acoustic music.

Next up is A-minor, an a cappella group that Osborn describes as “grinding beat-box grooves, airy synthesizer soundbeds and extraterrestrial harmonies from nothing more than their vocal chords.â€

Although many Grove Festival acts have exotic origins, A-minor is homegrown and hails from the University of Connecticut.

Next up on the stage will be a demonstration of African-Brazilian capoeira, which combines martial arts, games, music and dance. The performers gather in a circle and, Osborn said, engage in “fluid acrobatic play, feints and extensive use of sweeps, kicks and headbutts.â€

The evening always ends with music that, invariably, gets everyone, old and young, up on their feet and dancing. This year, that music will be Pistolera, a band Osborn describes as a “Mexicana band of femmes fatales.â€

Festival-goers are encouraged to bring blankets, low folding chairs (ones that don’t block the views of other people on the lawn) and picnics, and to spend the entire evening enjoying the views, the sunset and a musical smorgasboard. The festival is only canceled if there is a pretty dramatic and extended downpour; bring rain gear if the sky looks cloudy.

To learn more, go online to projecttroubador.org or call 860-435-0561.