New Haven gearing up for for busy summer- boston.com

If you’re looking for stuff to do this summer and not travel terribly far for it, consider New Haven, a Connecticut city with tons of things happening as the weather warms up, including events focused on the arts, music, food, wine and sports.

A grand opening of Project Storefronts goes off June 15, an award-winning program that brings arts-related businesses to life in vacant retail spaces. The program’s newest creative entrepreneur, Sara Scranton, opens her new business then, called Lipgloss Center, part art gallery, part photo studio and creative workshop space. The event is free. For info visit www.projectstorefrontsnewhaven.com The 18th annual International Festival of Arts & Ideas runs June 15-29, a series of eventsthat is 80 percent free, including a show by Aaron Neville the first night. Check out www.artidea.org for scheduling and applicable ticket prices. The Creative Arts Workshop, the city’s nonprofit center for education in the visual arts, holds its annual juried show, “How Simple Can You Get,” from June 29-July 26, with Robert Storr, artist, critic, curator and dean of the Yale University School of Art. The exhibition of the abstract to the figurative is free. For information, visit www.creativeartsworkshop.org/simple New Haven’s own summer concert series, “Music on the Green,” runs July 20 and 27 in the heart of the city, with a show by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra on July 20 and KC and the Sunshine Band July 27. Visit www.infonewhaven.com for more. “Flights of Fancy,” a popular wine tasting and shopping event, runs July 25 with in-store wine tastings, discounts and giveaways at more than 25 downtown shops. For information, visit www.infonewhaven.com/flightsoffancy The New Haven Jazz Festival is running August 12-18, an expanded version this year with more venues, live shows in Temple Plaza, street performers, family events and youth activities. Expected to appear are the likes of Wayne Escoffery and his sextet from New Haven, and the Curtis Brothers with Natalie Fernandez and an eight-piece Latin jazz orchestra. Visit www.jazzhaven.org for information. The New Haven Open is scheduled for Aug. 16-24, a pro tennis event with tickets starting at $24. The full list of participants hasn’t been listed yet (expect it by July), but early indications have top-ranked female players participating such as Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova, Angelique Kerber and Marion Bartoli. Organizers advise getting tickets early at www.newhavenopen.com or calling 855-464-8366. Comfort Food & Cocktails happens in the midst of all that tennis on Aug. 21, at the Courtside Club overlooking stadium court. The event is new and will feature samples from the city’s best chefs, including from restaurants Zinc, Ibiza, Heirloom, Union League Café and many others. The 2013 Yale Summer Cabaret is “Summer of Giants,” running May 30-Aug. 18,  a dozen weeks of performances that include “Tartuffe,” “The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife,” and “In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel.” For schedules, visit www.summercabaret.org Running now through Sept. 29 is “Art in Focus: St. Ives Abstraction,” by the Yale Center for British Arts, an exhibit featuring paintings and sculptures by artists working in the Cornish town of St. Ives in the mid-20th century, and curated by Yale undergrads in the Student Guide Program. Admission is free. For a full listing, visit www.britishart.yale.edu For all New Haven information, including lodging options, visit www.infonewhaven.com.

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