New performing arts festival coming to Nyack

A new open-air performing arts festival will make its premiere later this year in Nyack.

The Phoenix Festival: Live Arts in Nyack will begin on Sept. 16 and run for five weekends through Oct. 16. The festival is hosted and produced by the Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, which was founded in New York City in 2004 and makes Rockland County its second home.

The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble will present three classic plays during the festival ”“ Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth” and Anton Chekov’s “The Harmfulness of Tobacco” ”“ while the Rockland County-based Children”™s Shakespeare Theatre will stage “Love’s Labour’s Lost” and the Rockland Symphony Orchestra will present a classical music concert.

The festival”™s events will be staged outdoors at Marydell Faith & Life Center and in the garden of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, both located in Nyack.

“Our vision is to create an annual outdoor festival on the Hudson at the height of the beautiful fall season that will engage local talent and attract arts enthusiasts locally and globally,” said Craig Smith, Phoenix Festival executive director.

Photo: Poster art for the upcoming production of “The Importance of Being Earnest”