Regional Community Invited to Five-weekend Series of Holiday Events Beginning Nov. 24 CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. — Chautauqua Institution today announced the Winter Village at Chautauqua, set to launch Nov. 24 and running on weekends through New Year’s Eve. A new family-oriented initiative, the Winter Village showcases Chautauqua’s picturesque grounds and boutique shops, restaurants, spas and other businesses in a celebration of the joy and fellowship of the holiday season. Highlights include a holiday lighting display across Bestor Plaza, activities for children including visits from Santa, holiday shopping, treat-decorating classes, food and drink, outdoor fire pits and special events every weekend. The...

Chautauqua, NY – Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Borba and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, will close its 34th season with William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, directed by Dawn Monique Williams. Romeo and Juliet will run August 11-18 at Bratton Theater. In Romeo and Juliet, perhaps the most famous ever written, love is romantic, overpowering, passionate, violent, and ultimately redemptive. The hot summer days of Verona create a pressure cooker for young lovers caught between feuding families and swept away by the powerful nature of love. The CTC cast includes guest artists Nafeesa Monroe,...

In the weeks leading up to our Food Festival we have been busy adding spectacular guest chefs, unique demonstrations and other exciting events to the week’s schedule. Read our recent additions and don’t forget to purchase your festival tickets! Monday, Live cooking competitions in Bestor Plaza Don’t miss live cooking competitions in Bestor Plaza during the Chautauqua Food Festival, August 20-25. On Monday, August 25, the Festival Stage will host the Ultimate Cheeseburger Showdown, with Jacques Pépin as judge, as well as a trio of cooking competitions with Nickel City Chef. Described by many as Buffalo’s own version of Iron Chef, Nickel City Chef is as...

The award-winning novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, regarded as a seminal work of Chicano literature, is inspiring an original musical composition, inter-arts performance and an art exhibition at Chautauqua Institution this summer. The book tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. It is among 20 books featured as selections of the 2017 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle and its Young Readers program. Mango Suite, composed by Derek Bermel, is a 45- to 50-minute symphonic work that reimagines Cisneros’s observations through...

Chautauqua Institution today announced the appointment of Atom Atkinson of Interlochen, Michigan, as the new Director of Literary Arts effective September 1, 2017. Atkinson is currently an instructor of creative writing at Interlochen Arts Academy and Summer Camp.   As Director of Literary Arts, Atkinson will report to David Griffith, the incoming Vice President and Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education, and will serve as a senior member of the Department of Education and as an entrepreneurial and collaborative partner in strengthening and deepening the value of the literary arts program and experience for Chautauqua Institution stakeholders. The Director...