If you can’t afford the $249 ticket to Moogfest don’t despair, the festival has released an ambitious lineup for free performances, workshops and activities.
The free programming lineup was released Tuesday and includes a breakdown of events by venue and day. Highlights include Yo Gabba Gabba and comedian/musician Reggie Watts performing shows at American Tobacco Campus.
During the festival, Moog Music is moving production of its most famous synthesizer to a temporary manufacturing facility in the heart of downtown Durham. Workshops will teach people how to put a synthesizer together and explore the history of the device.
Throughout the weekend, Diamond View Park will be home to an interactive musical playground featuring instruments. CCB Plaza will be home to an interactive and collaborative LED light sculpture.
Other free events celebrate local music and culture. More than 20 record shops and dealers will be on hand Saturday, May 21, from noon to 4 p.m. for a Record Fair at 405 E. Chapel Hill St. And from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. that day, Runaway will host a party with local beer, art and appearances by Moogfest artists.
Here’s a look at some of the free events planned during this music, art and technology festival planned May 19 to 22:
- American Tobacco Campus
ATC is the heart of free community programming including the Modular Marketplace, Pop-up Moog Factory and several art installations including the Aloft Musical Playground with Critter & Guitari, Pollinator Synthesizer with Burt’s Bees and Ranjit (the soundscape will be reacting in real time to the bees inside the observation hive), and Moog’s collaboration with Yuri Suzuki called the Global Synthesizer Project.
May 19-21: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Rube Goldberg Youth Workshop – Students of all ages explore sequencing, timing and mechanics using Rube Goldberg Machine constructions.
May 21: Noon – 5 p.m. – Electronic Music for Children and Experimental Adults – Moogfest celebrates young fans of electronic music and invites adults and children to experiment with new sounds. Join DJ Lance Rock and Yo Gabba Gabba! for an afternoon of music and conversation featuring DJ Nanny Cantaloupe, Bootsy Collins, Dorit Chrysler, Kate Stone, Malcolm Mooney, Mark Mothersbaugh and Van Partible.
May 21: 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. – Reggie Watts Live – Reggie Watts will bring the unique brand of comedy and music that has earned him spots on the most famed of late night shows as well as cult podcasts. Watts is an internationally renowned vocal artist / beatboxer / musician / comedian who wows audiences with his live performances which are 100 percent improvised. Using his formidable voice, looping pedals, and his vast imagination, Reggie blends and blurs the lines between music and comedy. No two performances are the same, and to that end, ”genius” is the word most often used to describe Reggie Watts.
May 21: 11 a.m. – Noon – Beats and Star Wars Demo – Held at Full Frame Theater at ATC, this workshop will include a Darth Varder robot.
May 22: Noon- 5 p.m. – Modular on the Spot – A multi-artist concert and picnic.
- Carolina Theatre
May 19: 4:30 p.m.- 6 p.m. Future Cities – A Research Triangle Park hosted town hall style conversation exploring the tomorrowland that is being built today.
- 21c Museum Hotel
May 19-21: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Theta Virtual Reality – A guided meditation virtual reality spa from Flatsitter that incorporates video, software programming, performance and installation.
- Nasher Museum
May 20: 2-4 p.m. – Unique Dissertations/Cosmic Communications – A guided meditation workshop with tAz Arnold in the Great Hall of The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
- Durham Arts Council
May 19-21: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. – Celebrating the Work of Don Buchla – See rare synthesizers and memorabilia from the collection of Richard Smith.
- Bull McCabe’s
May 21: 1-9 p.m. Moogfest Reggae Soundsystem – Dubbed the official pub of Moogfest, this venue will host this outdoor reggae party featuring DJs and music from the likes of Jamaican-born music producer and broadcaster Lister Hewan-Lowe (long resident in Brooklyn), who brought Jack Ruby’s sound system from Jamaica to the US in 1982; Barbados-born producer, musician and sound system operator, Dennis Bovell and Guyana-born producer and live dub performer, Neil ‘Mad Professor’ Fraser (both resident in Britain); as well as producer and live dub performer, Laurent ‘Tippy’ Alfred (based in his native St Croix), a leading light of the USVI reggae and dub scenes.
- Carrack Modern Art
May 19-21: noon-6 p.m. – Switchboard Synthesizers – A modular synthesizer system made of repurposed, antique manual telephone switchboard by Antenes.
May 21-22: 1-1:30 p.m. – The Exchange – The switchboard synthesizer installation comes to life with a live performance from Antenes.
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Tickets for Moogfest are $249 for three-day general admission and $499 for three-day VIP passes. Those tickets are on sale now.
A limited number of single-day passes will go on sale Friday starting at noon. Those tickets are $129 for Thursday, Friday or Saturday and $69 for Sunday.
