{"id":11904,"date":"2014-05-02T14:23:28","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T18:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=11904"},"modified":"2014-05-02T10:36:36","modified_gmt":"2014-05-02T14:36:36","slug":"what-to-do-downton-wc-may-day-arts-fest-beastly-ballet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=11904","title":{"rendered":"What to do: Downton, WC May Day arts fest, beastly ballet"},"content":{"rendered":"

No shortage of fun, entertainment options this first weekend of May<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>,\u00a0Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Downton\"<\/a>

The fashions of Downton Abbey \u2014 the popular BBC\/PBS show \u2014 are currently featured at Winterthur.<\/p><\/div>\n

Winterthur\u2019s annual Point-to-Point Races are usually held at the start of May. Being staged so close to May 5 each year, the event frequently has a heavy Cinco de Mayo party vibe.<\/p>\n

This year will be different. This year, the sprawling estate in Delaware just south of Kennett Square, will have a decidedly British flavor — for good reason.<\/p>\n

Now through Jan. 4, 2015, Winterthur is hosting \u201cCostumes of\u00a0Downton Abbey\u201d, an original exhibition of exquisite designs from the award-winning television series. Forty historically-inspired costumes from the TV production are displayed.<\/p>\n

Three other events on this weekend\u2019s entertainment calendar that have established themselves as area traditions are the West Chester May Day Festival of Arts on May 4, Brandywine Ballet\u2019s annual spring production, which will be presented on May 3 and 4 and Hagley Museum\u2019s \u201cNature Fest,\u201d which is scheduled for May 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cDownton Abbey\u201d\u00a0is a British\u00a0period drama\u00a0television series that first aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland in September 2010 and made its American debut four months later on\u00a0PBS\u00a0as part of the\u00a0Masterpiece Classic\u00a0anthology.<\/p>\n

The popular television series is set in the fictional\u00a0Yorkshire\u00a0country estate\u00a0of Downton Abbey, a\u00a0Yorkshire\u00a0country house<\/a>\u00a0that is the seat of the\u00a0Earl\u00a0and\u00a0Countess\u00a0of\u00a0Grantham. It focuses on the lives of the\u00a0aristocratic\u00a0Crawley family and their servants during the reign of King\u00a0George V.<\/p>\n

This attractive assortment of authentic costumes is supplemented by photographs and vignettes inspired by the fictional program — and by real life at Winterthur. This juxtaposing allows visitors to experience the world of \u201cDownton Abbey\u201d and the contrasting world of Winterthur founder Henry Francis du Pont and his contemporaries in the first half of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

The costumes are on loan from Cosprop, the world\u2019s leading costumier to film, television and theater. \u201cFashion in Film,\u201d which established itself as Winterthur\u2019s most popular exhibition when it attracted more than 42,000 people over its three-month run, also featured costumes by Cosprop.<\/p>\n

The Winterthur Point-to-Point, which is held along Route 52 in northern Delaware, features a variety of cross country equestrian events with an emphasis on the steeplechase races<\/p>\n

The races, which are on a course just over three miles long, include eight fences that are jumped 17 times.\u00a0Post time for the first steeplechase event is the Isabella du Pont Sharp Memorial Maiden Timber Race at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

The festive, one-day event will also include all of its other traditional annual features such as the \u201cParade of Antique Carriages\u201d, pony rides, food tents, the traditional opening ceremony with bagpipers and the legendary \u201cTailgate Picnic Competition\u201d.<\/p>\n

The list of special family activities includes \u201cStick-Horse Races,\u201d \u201cCanine Capers\u201d (a playground area for dogs) and \u201cWinterthur Hunt\u201d featuring \u201cPersonal Ponies\u201d (equine safety program).<\/p>\n

General admission tickets are $50 for adults and $15 for youth (ages 12-20). For additional information, call (800) 48-3883 or visit\u00a0www.winterthur.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When May arrives each year, people from around the area know that it is time for West Chester\u2019s annual May Day Festival of the Arts. This year\u2019s staging of the event will be on May 4 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. in Everhart Park, which is located downtown West Chester.<\/p>\n

The family-oriented free festival will host more than 40 vendors with exhibits and sales booths featuring a variety of high-quality juried arts and crafts. There will also be an array of crafts demonstrations by the participating artisans and a number of food and beverage vendors in the park.<\/p>\n

The festival also features attractions, games and activities geared for youngsters, including children\u2019s rides and a moon bounce.<\/p>\n

The entertainment schedule this year features the West Chester Performing Arts Studio, Al Angello (juggler, magician, comic), Pedro Villasenor & The Authentic Mariachi Experience, Dick Rainer (stilt walker) and the Maypole Dancers & West Chester Dance Works.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The West Chester May Day Festival of the Arts (610-436-9010,\u00a0www.west-chester.com<\/a>) will take place on May 4 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. in Everhart Park, which is located at West Union Street and South Bradford Avenue in West Chester.<\/p>\n

The Brandywine Ballet (610- 696-2711,\u00a0www.brandywineballet.com<\/a>) will stage its production of \u201cBeauty and The Beast\u201d as its spring performance on May 3 and 4 at West Chester University\u2019s Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall.<\/p>\n

The performances mark Brandywine Ballet\u2019s second staging of\u00a0\u201cBeauty & the Beast\u201d\u00a0<\/i>after having premiered the work in the spring of 2012.\u00a0The current production\u00a0features original choreography by Ballet Mistress and Resident Choreographer, Nancy Page.<\/p>\n

Page has\u00a0successfully\u00a0adapted the traditional fairy tale for ballet\u00a0while preserving the show\u2019s message\u00a0which emphasizes the importance of looking beyond appearances and finding inner beauty.<\/p>\n

Performances are slated for May 3 at 4 p.m. and May 4 at 2 p.m. Tickets for these performances are $\u00a025, $30 and $40 with senior and student discounts available.<\/p>\n

On May 3, Hagley Museum and Library\u00a0(Buck Road off route 100, Wilmington, Delaware,\u00a0302-685-2400 or\u00a0www.hagley.org<\/a>)\u00a0is hosting its Third Annual\u00a0NatureFest\u00a0from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.\u00a0This family event provides a fun learning opportunity for kids and encourages them to explore our environment.<\/p>\n

NatureFest\u2019s theme for 2014 is \u201cWind.\u201d Visitors will be able to discover the many ways that wind helps us — from creating energy to pollinating plants. Other options are participating in a nature hike, exploring the E. I. du Pont garden, and taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the greenhouse.<\/p>\n

The list of special activities includes miniature wind turbines, \u201cFlying Insect Table\u201d by the Delaware Museum of Natural History, hot air balloons, \u201cWater Purification, Polymers, and Rainbows\u201d by the American Chemical Society, a garden scavenger hunt; a \u201cBee-a-Pollinator Garden,\u201d \u201cPlan a Wind Project and Wind Art,\u201d anemometers and weathervanes, tree climbing, wind-blown seeds and a \u201cWind Mobile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No shortage of fun, entertainment options this first weekend of May By Denny Dyroff,\u00a0Correspondent, The Times Winterthur\u2019s annual Point-to-Point Races are usually held at the start of May. Being staged so close to May 5 each year, the event frequently has a heavy Cinco de Mayo party vibe. This year will be different. This year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,4],"tags":[4550,4547,671,33,4549,4548],"class_list":["post-11904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-featured","tag-brandywine-ballet","tag-downton-abbey","tag-hagley-museum-and-library","tag-steeplechase","tag-west-chester-may-day-festival-of-the-arts","tag-winterthur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}