Dam Show Back At Its Namesake Next Month

One of the region's most eclectic and growing music festivals is returning to its rightful venue this year.

The Dam Show, a weekend of music, art, colorful lights and summer fun, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 9- 10, at the Austin Dam Memorial Park along Rt. 872 in southern Potter County.

Among professional musicians already lined up to perform are:

--Redheaded Stepchild, a favorite of bluegrass and folk shows throughout the Northeast;

--Buffalo, N.Y., blues guitarist TommyZ and his band;

--Coudersport-based singer and songwriter Larry Herbstritt and Friends;

--Buddhahood, a powerhouse festival band from Rochester, N.Y., with a rich mix of percussion, horns, keyboards and stringed instruments;

--Jakob's Hollow, an acoustic trio comprised of local musicians Steve Quelet, Eppie Bailey and Judy Shunk;

--The Original Jazz Band, featuring Gary Lidge on keyboards and Thomas Presha on bass.

--University of Pittsburgh African Drumming Club, from the main campus in Oakland will perform West African drumming, singing, and dancing.

Other performers, including the Essence in Motion dancers from Coudersport, are being lined up as the stage times are determined by the co-sponsors, the Potter County Fine Arts Council and the Austin Dam Memorial Association. The Dam Show is slated to run from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00m p.m. both days.

On both Saturday and Sunday nights, the Dam Show will feature the return of the wide, colorful light show across the face of the dam ruins, thanks to lighting specialists Groovin' Lumens.

Some special arts activities are also being planned. Attendees will be able to add their painted touches to canvases, and other objects to produce an on-site art display. Festival goers are also invited to write and read poetry under the Dam Poet Tree. Some of the poets will be invited to read their works on the main stage between bands. Attendees will be welcomed to become part of the Dam Chorus which will perform some numbers of its own.

There will be activities for children, including horsedrawn wagon rides, and a variety of food booths and other vendors setting up both days. Primitive camping is also available. Visitors are advised to bring lawn chairs or blankets, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets are for sale for $15 (one-day), $25 (two-day), $30 (one-day family), or $45 (twoday family) at Olga's Living with Art in Coudersport or at the show.

But the big news is the return of the Dam Show to the park. The ruins of the Austin Dam -- tall, wide columns spaced across the floor of the Freeman Run valley -- are the backdrop of a natural amphitheater. Those same concrete block also form the canopy for the color Groovin' Lumens light show.

Last year, the Dam Show was shifted to the Genesee Environmental Center due in part to the deteriorating condition of the access road to the Austin Dam Memorial Park. That road is being widened and stabilized to accommodate Dam Show traffic. A free shuttle bus will also run between a parking area at the Austin Area School to the park.

Organizers of the Dam Show, now in its fourth year, believe the event has the potential to become the region's premier music and arts festival, leading up to a major event in 2011.

That year marks the centennial of the tragic Austin flood of 1911, when on Sept. 30 the massive dam gave way, releasing a torrent that killed upwards of 80 people and nearly wiped out the Borough of Austin.

The Austin Dam Memorial Association and the Potter County Fine Arts Council established the Dam Show as a tribute to the resolve of the Austin townspeople to recover from adversity, and as a symbol of a bright future.