Press Release

August 18, 2007

It’s CORNAPALOOZA!! – A Benefit and a Party

Edgartown, MA—It’s CORNAPALOOZA!! – a benefit and a party – and the FARM Institute’s "come one, come all" invitation to Islanders and visitors alike to celebrate the summer’s end with day long music, games, dance…and, of course, corn.

"Yes, the funds raised from this event are meant to benefit the FARM’s educational programs," says Rob Goldfarb, the FARM Institute’s Event Director. "But it’s also about the Island – a way for everyone to have some great old and new fashioned summer fun. We have our annual gourmet fundraiser in July –but this is a grass roots benefit where everybody can join in. We also like the idea of having a benefit that’s a party meant for the whole Island – where just about everyone can afford the ticket."

Meant for adults and children of all ages, the "old fashioned fun" category includes games, face painting, scarecrow making, and a mini-theater performing troup that will also give tours of the FARM. Even more old fashioned, (ancient actually) will be fortune teller "Quicha" – who uses the Zapotec method of bean and seed reading to predict your future. At the other end of the spectrum – as new fashioned as it gets – there’s the Human Race Machine – a computer program that "reads" your face and translates it into how you would look as someone of a different race.

The music will also be a day long affair with performances at the open air stage. Visitors will be able to lounge on a haybale while listening to nationally known performers and groups like the Latin Sol y Canto, troubadour Garett Brennan, Bob Dorough of Schoolhouse Rock. And to keep the grass roots flavor, the FARM will also have a full roster of local musicians, including Al Shackman, Maynard & Milo Silva, the local Brazilian band Edilson Lima, and Kevin Keady and the bluegrass Cattle Drivers.

Then there’s the event’s namesake – the FARM’s giant corn maze – first constructed last year – where visitors can lose – or find – themselves in seven acres of winding corn stalk paths.

Island restaurants – The Scottish Bakehouse, Artcliff, and PJ’s Café – have joined to provide food for the event – and there’s corn, of course, – from Kinsmen’s Fresh Corn on the Cob. Offshore ale will donate their "finest ales."

As Kevin Keady sings in his soon to be famous Cornapalooza song: "Come on down to where the cattle graze, kick up your heels when the music graze… it’s a party down on the farm!"

Cornpalooza: August 25th, 12-8 p.m.. at the FARM Institute at Katama Farm, Edgartown. Tickets: $20.00 for ages 21 and over, $10.00 for ages 20 and below. under 3 years old get in free. There will be a $5.00 parking fee due to necessity of reseeding the parking grounds. The FARM Institute encourages people to carpool, take the bus or bike!

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The FARM Institute - Post Office Box 1868 - Edgartown, MA 02539 - (508) 627-7007