Photo by Kevin H.

The Kennedy Center kicks off its fall season with its annual Open House Arts Festival, a highlight of its performance calendar. Every year, as part of its Performing Arts for Everyone initiative, the Center opens its doors to the public and folks can see cutting edge artists from around the world in nearly every performance space the venue has to offer. This Saturday marks the 25th installment of the festival, dubbed Stage & Street Spectacular. In recognition of that milestone, the event’s organizers took a step back to assess their approach.

“The festival is so large that it can be difficult to see as many artists as you would like,” said Garth Ross, director of Performing Arts for Everyone. “It gave us a chance to look at how to serve the patrons better.”

This examination led Ross and fellow organizers to the street performance tradition, which is well established elsewhere in the world, but not very prevalent in the United States. A major inspiration was the Aurillac Festival International de Théâtre de Rue, an annual 4-day French street festival that draws some 100,000 visitors, and that is known for its artistic breadth and depth, ranging from slapstick comedy to the avant-garde. With this range in mind, and in cooperation with the French American Cultural Foundation, the Kennedy Center has assembled artists from around the globe for the Open House. These include local and national artists, and international artists from France, Canada, and as far away as Australia.

“This style of performance is highly participatory,” Ross explained. “Essentially, this year, anywhere you turn, any point in the day, there will be a performance for you to take in.”