It’s only fitting that the hyper-local approach to Baltimore’s annual Light City festival—which aims to spark social change through light, music, and innovation—is also reflected in the event’s food and drink offerings. For the third consecutive year, all concessions sold throughout the event around the Inner Harbor will be exclusively from Maryland purveyors.

“I didn’t understand why we would choose to bring in a circuit of people that go to all of the festivals and serve the same types of foods,” says Sandy Lawler, food and beverage manager for the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA). “Those people aren’t from around here, and for a city as soulful as Baltimore, it’s very important to support small businesses and give them a place to shine.” 

What to eat at the festival

Running from April 6-21, the celebration will feature more than 25 local vendors organized by cuisine.

“This past year there has been a lot of work in our city to support individual communities,” Lawler says. “We have a big Latin culture, a great soul culture, and a large Asian community. So, to us, dividing the food vendors up like this made a lot of sense.”

Festival-goers will be able to find Asian-fusion favorites like Ekiben, Dooby’s, and Pinch Dumplings adjacent to Club Light City at Kaufman Pavilion, a selection of soul food from the likes of Big Bean Theory and The Urban Oyster near Pier 1, and Latin eats from DMV Empanadas and Restaurant Piquin outside of Mini Light City. There will also be a Zeke’s coffee and dessert bar featuring Berries by Quicha and Stupid Delicious Desserts at Bicentennial Plaza, and an ode to the Chesapeake near the National Aquarium highlighting seafood from Harbor Market Catering and DogFish Head’s SeaQuench Ale.

What to drink at the festival
Light City’s beverage program will also add to the local flair. This year’s official festival cocktail is the “Night Thyme,” combining rye whiskey, soda water, orange juice, and a special citrus thyme shrub from Baltimore-based juice maker Le Monade. It will be sold at various booths alongside the cleverly-named Lumen Ale, a citrusy, dry-hopped pale ale that The Brewer’s Art has brewed exclusively for the Light City.

Other craft beer options will include The Brewer’s Art Resurrection, Duckpin from Union Craft Brewing in Hampden, and 51 Rye from Monument City in Highlandtown.

“For BOPA to really recognize and embrace the local craft beer industry is huge,” says Monument City co-founder Ken Praay. “It just goes hand in hand with how Baltimore is always behind its small businesses. It’s something that we’ve seen from day one.”

Aside from selling the beer, Monument City has also partnered with BOPA to help put sustainable recycling and garbage collection systems in place for this year’s festivities. In keeping with the green mentality, BOPA is encouraging all vendors to use compostable serving dishes and utensils.

“My brother and I have always wanted to be a family-owned, community-based brewery,” Praay says. “And a big part of that is making sure that the communities in which we live and operate are clean, safe, and enjoyable. So naturally, this is something we jumped on.”

Light City specials around town

Outside of the festival’s footprint, other local bars and restaurants are getting in on the fun by offering food and drink specials of their own. Ampresea on the Fells Point waterfront is hosting a three-course dinner followed by a waterfront cruise to view some of the installations by boat on April 14. And the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Hotel has created a special lime green cocktail in honor of the light shows, fusing sour apple schnapps, white wine, club soda, and simple syrup.

Additionally, the second-annual Lit City dance party is returning to the illuminated St. Paul Street tunnel on Thursday, April 19. The evening will feature music spun by DJ James Nasty, a full bar, and light bites from Cava Mezze, The Owl Bar, The Elephant, Sobo Cafe, and Gordon Ramsay Steak inside Horseshoe Casino.

Learn about food at Light City

For those who are interested in how the local restaurant scene impacts the
community at large, FoodLab@LightCity will take place at the Columbus Center on April 21. Now in its second year, the discussion is one of seven social innovation sessions that will occur throughout the event’s three-week run.

This time around, Food Lab is bringing together change-makers in the food community including chef/owner Dave Thomas of Ida B’s Table, Dovecote Cafe owners Aisha Pew & B. Cole, and Baltimore-based food writer Allison Robicelli.

“The overarching theme of Light City makes this unlike any other conference I’ve ever been to,” Robicelli says. “There’s this huge cross-pollination of ideas. You get to see how all of these topics relate to things like healthcare, tech, social justice, and equity.”   

Robicelli will lead a panel of female food industry professionals discussing discrimination in the workplace. Speakers will include New York chef and food historian Therese Nelson, culinary consultant Rachel Waynberg, and former Manhattan restaurateur Alison Price Becker.

“It’s an issue that is getting a lot of attention, but we’re still seeing hesitation to fix it,” Robicelli says. “In the media, you already hear about what women go through in the kitchen, but this is a huge industry. And there are so many women behind the scenes. There is a huge glass ceiling when it comes to ownership and how people view women.”

Robicelli says that Baltimore’s innovative spirit makes it an ideal place to fuel the conversation. 

“The reason I moved to Baltimore is because it’s the kind of place where people are coming up with solutions to change the world,” she says. “We have some of the best minds in the country. We’re writing the script that can change every city.” 

It’s that time of the year when the city becomes a living art display featuring crazy sculptures, flashing lights, and interactive waterfront installations for the annual Light City Festival presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA). The festival kicks off on April 6 and will span across three weekends.

While the beautiful giant egg, glowing seesaws, and illuminated peacock were crowd pleasers last year, the social innovation labs were thought-provoking, as well. And this year’s panels, called Labs@Light City, will be no different. From April 18-21 at the IMET Columbus Center, the conferences will feature discussions from more than 140 innovative thinkers including Baltimore Rising producer Sonja Sohn, health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen, chef Dave Thomas of Ida B’s Table, and activist DeRay Mckesson.

“The overarching theme of all seven of the labs is how to become a more fair and just society,” labs organizer Jamie McDonald said, referencing the art, education, food, social, environment, maker, and health themes. “We look at social innovation through the lenses of each of these topic areas—that’s what makes this conference so unique. Our whole philosophy is that there’s brilliance everywhere.”

This year locals can also expect a few changes to the labs including the cost of the tickets. Last year, admission was $149 for one lab and $99 for each additional. BOPA is highlighting a “pay what you can” model for each session. McDonald said that it’s always been the case, but jokingly admits that it took BOPA three years to perfect the language.

“We want everyone who wants to attend to attend,” she said. “We decided that we didn’t want to make it feel like you had to go through a special process to attend. This gave us a way to say to everyone, ‘Come and be part of the conversation, join us at the labs, and pay what you can.’ It’s one simple message and it’s worked a lot better.” 

Another thing to look out for is a change in the frequency and duration of the labs. Instead of full-day sessions, the sessions will only last four hours. Also, the popular DesignLab from last year that covered a broad range of topics from art to digital media has been split into two separate sessions—an ArtLab and a MakerLab—to provide a more concentrated discussion on each.

“Art in Baltimore, particularly art as it relates to social impact and social commentary, did really good on its own and warranted an art-focused lab,” McDonald said. “Makers, similarly, have become a really important thing in Baltimore and in cities around the country and we wanted to highlight that.”

Author and entrepreneur Shanti Das is excited to be a part of the new MakerLab and plans to share her successes, failures, and experiences on April 20. 

“When you look at a lot of the racial and socioeconomic issues that Baltimore has had to deal with, it’s important that you continue to empower the young people that are there,” she said. “I think there are a lot of opportunities in Baltimore now. I feel like I can offer a unique approach from a leadership perspective—sometimes failures are a good thing. You have to crawl before you can walk.” 

For the second year,YouthLabs will take place April 19-20 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum for high school students. These sessions will feature a series of workshops and activities on topics like coding, large-scale collaboration, dance, and even a drone demonstration to help Baltimore teens unlock their artistic passions.

“The first day is more brain-based activities like concepts in problem-solving,” said Sarah Doccolo, YouthLabs curator and BOPA art education coordinator. “We are calling the second day ‘the body.’ We will have a performance and Q&A with the TSU Dance Academy—it’s a really great celebration of Baltimore City through dance.”

McDonald says that the purpose for the entire festival is to promote social change and inspire the residents of the city. The Labs are just one layer of the bigger picture, but she believes that they are vital to the progression of Baltimore because they provide a start to the conversation. 

“It’s uplifting our thinkers, whether they are artists or in the labs,” she said. “It’s making comments about society and bringing together people from neighborhoods who would not normally share spaces together. It’s doing so much more than what people may think about on the surface, and that’s what really makes this festival special.”

With the theme “More Lights, More Love,” Light City Baltimore will expand from two to three weekends this year. The art and music festival presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA) is held primarily on Baltimore’s waterfront and highlights social innovation by way of the arts—large-scale art installations that light up the evenings, alongside live music and pop-up performances.

“This is a unique festival in the sense that the art is supposed to elucidate and illuminate social issues,” says Verna Myers, representing the Light City leadership council at a press conference today. “Art is awesome because it helps us to see things differently.”

The three-part event kicks off with Neighborhood Lights from April 6-8, continues with the Light City art and music festival from April 14-21, and concludes with Labs@LightCity from April 18-21.

Perhaps the most obvious signal that the event is in full swing will be the BGE Light Art Walk along the Inner Harbor’s promenade, showcasing 21 light-based installations made by artists from across the world. Tom Dekyvere’s glowing Elantica will be an off-the-grid sculpture replica of Earth, made from solar panels and electronic waste. Another piece will explore human relationships by way of interactive light and sound. Another will serve to illustrate—through a moving, patterned surface on the ground—that color is made up in our minds.

Beyond the Inner Harbor, Neighborhood Lights showcases various cultural pockets in the city during its own weekend this year. The collaborative artist-in-residence program has grown from five communities in its first year to eight in its second and now 14: Belair-Edison, Bromo Tower Arts and Entertainment District, Darley Park, Federal Hill, Baybrook (Brooklyn and Curtis Bay), Remington, Hamilton-Lauraville, Highlandtown, Hollins Roundhouse/Southwest Baltimore, Little Italy, Locust Point, Patterson Park, Pigtown, and Waverly. Artists are paired with community organizers to create site-specific work that reflects the personality of Baltimore’s neighborhoods.

New this year, self-guided audio tours of the BGE Light Art Walk and Neighborhood Lights installations will be available through a quick phone call.

Also new, the Labs@LightCity conference at IMET Columbus Center will be pay-what-you-can. The “labs”—HealthLab, GreenLab, EduLab, SocialLab, ArtLab, MakerLab, and FoodLab—put local voices alongside nationally known ones to discuss ideas and innovations that will take our world forward into the future. These guided conversations will explore focused themes, such as the role of education in society, greening our cities, and how art can create change. Speakers include Art Smith, DeRay Mckesson, Aaron Maybin, Sonja Sohn, Shanti Das, and many more.

Music performances at the Inner Harbor Amphitheater and Kaufman Pavilion by Rash Field, as well as pop-up performances—illuminated hula hooping, stilt-walking, caroling, dance, and puppets—will round out the event. Acts will include DJ Grandmaster Flash, G. Love and Special Sauce, Trillnatured, and Outcalls.

Also not to be missed: A drone race will bring drone league racers from across the U.S. to compete in a light installation that doubles as an obstacle course.

Not only did the second annual Light City festival achieve many abstract goals—sparking important social conversations and inspiring artistic creativity within the community—but it also brought about a major boost to the Baltimore economy.

A recent survey commissioned by organizers at the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) reveals that the nine-day festival had a total economic impact of more than $44 million, with $26 million generated in direct spending and more than $18 million that rippled through the economy indirectly.

“We couldn’t be more pleased,” says BOPA’s outgoing CEO Bill Gilmore, mentioning that the total impact increased by nearly $10 million from 2016. “We’re building momentum. The goal was always to make incremental increases and we did that in just about every category. It’s exciting to move the needle across all measures.”

The study, conducted by Pennsylvania-based research firm Forward Analytics, estimates that 470,000 people visited the glowing installations scattered throughout the Inner Harbor after dark, and 33 percent of the total attendees hailed from out of state.

“The survey acts as a benchmark for us to use in our planning from year to year,” Gilmore explains. “It gives us a good reporting mechanism to see why people came and what they’re interested in.”

Results indicated that the majority of out-of-state visitors came from D.C., Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. Almost all—81 percent, to be exact—indicated that Light City was their “main reason” for visiting Baltimore, and each spent an estimated $80.

BOPA has already begun accepting proposals from artists who wish to be featured at next year’s free festival, which is set to run April 14-21.

Though next year’s event will continue to feature Light City’s signature illuminated attractions, concerts, performance art, local food and drink vendors, and daily innovation conferences, the schedule will be tweaked slightly. Instead of running Neighborhood Lights (a program where various Baltimore communities showcase their own installations) in conjunction with the Inner Harbor festivities, the individual neighborhood showcases will kick off the festival April 6-8, with some installations on view for a longer period.

“We thought giving Neighborhood Lights its own weekend would give them a little more spotlight so that it wouldn’t necessarily compete with the downtown festival,” Gilmore says. “It also gives us three full weekends of activity.”

The economic impact study comes on the heels of Gilmore’s resignation announcement after 37 years with BOPA. He says that he is most proud of the artistic integrity that has been showcased throughout festival by the community at large, and he is confident that the nonprofit will find a replacement who will be able to “grow Light City into adolescence” in the future.  

“To be considered one of the top-tier light festivals in the world is an amazing accomplishment,” he says. “It’s only a two-year-old, and still has a long was to go to maturity, but I’m excited to see it grow and thrive for many years to come.”

The Ground
To May 19. Hutzler’s, 200 N. Howard St. Thu.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. 410-756-0397. There are few artistic institutions in Baltimore more avant-garde and awe-inspiring than The Contemporary. In recent years, the nomadic gallery has presented mesmerizing, mind-bending, and moving projects, showcasing the power of art through alternative exhibits. For its first 2017 show, delve into The Ground, a solo commission by New York-based artist Michael Jones McKean, who has transformed the historic Hutzler’s department store into a massive labyrinth and metaphor on “place.” Through replicas, dioramas, and scenes, he explores dichotomies and turns time on its head, merging past and present, human and nonhuman, and material and digital into a future yet to be seen.

---

St. Patrick’s Day Parade
March 12. Washington Monument, 699 Washington Pl. 2 p.m. Free. ’Tis the season to celebrate the Emerald Isle, with green beer, green clothing, and the 62nd annual St. Patty’s Day parade. After you run in the annual Shamrock 5K race, make your way to the Washington Monument on Charles Street for a great view of the bagpipers, floats, dance groups, and local officials hoofing it to celebrate the contributions of Irish Americans.

---

Off the Shelf: Modern & Contemporary Artists’ Books
March 12-June 25. The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr. Wed.-Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free. 443-573-1700. Over the years, artists have gone off the canvas and onto the page to turn books into works of art. At the BMA, explore more than 100 rarely shown “artists’ books” by more than 50 iconic artists, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Baltimore’s own Grace Hartigan.

---

Misty Copeland
March 22. MICA, Brown Center, 1300 W. Mount Royal Ave. 7 p.m. $30. 410-396-5494. Since breaking out on the national stage with her memorable “I Will What I Want” ad for Under Armour, American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland has become an adopted Baltimore icon, and role model for women the world over. This month, at the Maryland Institute College of Art, meet the artist-athlete, hear about her new book, Ballerina Body, and learn the secrets of her envy-inducing calves.

---

Terry Gross
March 22. Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson. 6-9 p.m. $45-175. 410-235-1660. Terry Gross, the host of NPR’s Fresh Air, will speak at Goucher, sharing stories and wisdom from her 40-year career (which has included more than 13,000 conversations with the likes of Johnny Cash, Hillary Clinton, Mel Brooks, and Maurice Sendak). There will even be a chance for audience members to turn the tables and ask the expert interviewer their very own questions.

---

Harlem Globetrotters
March 25. Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St. 2 & 7 p.m. $25.50-124.50. 410-347-2020. With March Madness finally upon us, we’re fully engulfed in all things basketball, and we don’t just mean the NCAA. At the end of the month, see the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters as they dribble their way into town for a winter game with b-ball wizardry and hoop-shooting tricks that are fun for the family.

---

Stevie Nicks
March 26. Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St. 7 p.m. $66-600. 410-347-2020. More than 50 years after Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks wrote her first song, she is still enchanting audiences, touring behind her latest release, 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault, a collection of never-before-released gems, some of which date back to her pre-Fleetwood Mac days. This month, Nicks—joined by special guests The Pretenders—will cast her spell in Baltimore.

---

Light City
March 31-April 8. Locations & times vary. Free. 410-752-8632. We didn’t know what to expect from the Light City arts festival last spring, but boy, did it deliver. A celebration of light, music, and innovation, the inaugural event contributed a whopping $33.8 million to Baltimore’s economy, and attracted some 400,000 attendees to city streets. Starting this month, with a fresh lineup of installations, musicians, movers, and shakers, we anticipate nine nights that will beam even bigger and brighter than last year.

---

Rent
March 31-April 2. Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. Times vary. $48-142. 410-837-7400. It’s been 525,600 minutes—times 20—since this smash-hit musical burst onto Broadway. Two decades later, Rent has become a Pulitzer and Tony award-winning show with beloved characters and an iconic rock soundtrack. A loose adaptation of Puccini’s La Bohème, the story follows seven artists struggling to follow their dreams in New York City.

In addition, BOPA is encouraging local businesses to light their buildings during the festival, an initiative they’re calling “Brilliant Baltimore” and is also proud of the local food and drink offerings that will be on hand, including Dooby’s, Ekiben, Sagamore Spirit Rye, staff from the Baltimore Bartenders Guild, and beer from The Brewer’s Art, Heavy Seas, and Union Craft Brewing. During the festival, the annual food and drink event The Emproriyum will also be taking place (from April 1-2) in the former Best Buy store on Pratt Street.

“There’s so much happening downtown that we wanted to provide something family-friendly, food-friendly, and drink-friendly for anyone looking to add to their Light City experience,” says Emporiyum organizer Sue-Jean Chun.

All of the organizers agreed that they are looking to building off of last year’s inaugural event that saw 400,000 visitors and an economic impact of $33.8 million. Newly appointed CEO of Visit Baltimore
Al Hutchinson cited some statistics at the press conference that of all the people who were downtown during the festival last year, 88 percent came specifically because of Light City and 29 percent of people said it was their first time in Baltimore.

“Every community in this country looks for a signature event that they can call their own,” Hutchinson said. “Let’s own this.”

Labs@LightCity attendees can purchase tickets for $149 for one lab and $99 for each additional lab. You can also apply for the Light City Luminary Program, which provides assistance to attend the conferences.

Light City attracted more than 400,000 people this past spring, which was its first year. In 2017, the festival will occur from Friday, March 31 through Saturday, April 8. Labs@LightCity will take place over six days, from Monday, April 3 through Saturday, April 8 at the IMET Columbus Center on Pratt Street.

The 2017 iteration will include 24 light art installations at the Inner Harbor, and will expand into neighborhoods including Sandtown-Winchester, Hamilton-Lauraville, and Waverly. The complete schedule of artists and performers will be announced in January 2017.

“For far too long, police have been one dimensional. 2015 taught us public safety cannot be one dimensional.” -Kevin Davis discussing BPD’s enhancements including more community foot patrol and trauma counseling

“It’s such a rare event to be engaged in a civil disturbance—it had been since ’68 since we had one. Suddenly, we are now ‘experts’ in civil disturbances.” -Kevin Davis

“The next day I saw the most beautiful thing: Baltimoreans of all colors were cleaning up. They are so many beautiful things happening in Baltimore.” -Joe Jones referencing the morning of April 28, 2015

“The anniversary date will come and go. But this systemic issues have been long-standing.” -Joe Jones discussing the impending anniversary of Freddie Gray’s death and the Baltimore Uprising

---

Millennials Remaking the Urban Landscape
Featuring John Cammack, Managing Partner of Cammack Associates, Fagan Harris, CEO of Baltimore Corps, and Andrew Yang, Founder and CEO of Venture For America

“Baltimore is more well-positioned than any other city I’ve seen.” -Andrew Yang on the city’s startup community and entrepreneurial spirit

“If you view Baltimore as a collection of stats, you’re looking at it wrong. It’s a collection of opportunities.” -Fagan Harris

Baltimore City is beautiful, and too few people on the outside know it. – @AndrewYangVFA @venture4america @lightcityu
— BoMF Baltimore (@BoMFBaltimore) March 28, 2016

“Millennials need to feel like Baltimore wants them to be here as much as they want to be in Baltimore.” -Fagan Harris

“Do not wait for the government to do it. Get up and do it, and then government will be there to cut the ribbon.” -Andrew Yang on starting a business

---

EdTech Companies Redefining the Future of Learning
Featuring John Cammack, Managing Partner of Cammack Associates, Andrew Cary, VP of Business Development, Cite Lighter, Wes Moore, CEO and Founder of BridgeEdu, Burck Smith, CEO of StraighterLine, and Lida Zlatic, CEO of Class Tracks

“Everybody I’ve met is ready and willing to help someone newer than they are.” -Lida Zlatic on the startup culture in Baltimore

“You can’t go around Baltimore and not see how you’re needed. You see clearly every day that your participation is necessary.” -Wes Moore

“What’s unique about Baltimore is that every startup leads with mission.” -John Cammack, on startups valuing impact over profit

“Baltimore kind of falls victim to a gatekeeper mentality. We are putting far too much power in the hands of far too few.” -Wes Moore

“If you want to be serious about the future of Baltimore City, you have to be serious about the future of African-American men.” -Wes Moore

---

Wonder Women: Change Makers + Innovators
Featuring Asha Curran, Director, Center for Innovation and Social Impact at 92Y & Founder, #GivingTuesday, Brooke Hall, Founder of What Works Studio, Vanessa Garrison, Co-Founder and COO at GirlTrek, Jamie McDonald, Founder of Generosity, Inc. and Sonja Sohn, American Actress and Star of The Wire

“If you don’t like what you see back in your past, look ahead and build something new.” -Brooke Hall

“There are going to be so many forces to detail you in your career. Don’t be one of them.” -Vanessa Garrison

“Women are multi-tasking wizards. If we connect with what we do, and there is passion for what we do, you’re going to see magic.” -Sonja Sohn

Women’s Panel Discussion… @lightcityu pic.twitter.com/InWy4xZgVM
— MischaInspires (@mischainspires) March 29, 2016

“We cannot allow our critique of the systems that run this planet to swallow us whole. Of course we can try to move the needle, but we cant get too comfortable with our own oppression.” -Sonja Sohn

“Being tough and powerful doesn’t mean mimicking men. We can find new ways of leadership.” -Vanessa Garrison

“I cannot see your barriers. I cannot hear why you think I can’t do what I’m doing. I’m too busy getting stuff done.” -Sonja Sohn

---

Leadership & Place
Featuring Chris Jeffery, CEO Order Up, April Reign, Creator of the hashtag, #OscarsSoWhite, Gabriel Auteri (speaking for Dr Leana Wen, Baltimore City Health Commissioner), Chris Wilson, Social Entrepreneur & Founder of Barclay Investment Corporation

“My first day at the health department was April 24, 2015.” -Gabriel Auteri, who explained that, after drugstores burned down during the riots, he and Dr. Wen went door-to-door in order to make sure residents had their prescription-medicine needs met

“Trauma is such a deep issue for our city.” -Gabriel Auteri, who added that the health department hosted 350 trauma and counseling sessions following the Baltimore Uprising

“You may see a vacant house, but I see an opportunity for construction.” -Chris Wilson

“We have to work harder than expected because of the perception of Baltimore.” -Chris Jeffrey

“If you give people time off to mentor, to be with family, they are happier at work. If they are happy they’ll work harder.” -Chris Jeffrey explaining his philosophy behind giving OrderUp employees unlimited paid time off

“We’re so focused on job, jobs, jobs, but the job creators need support, too. We need to create better access to credit.” -Chris Wilson

It is extremely important to continue to tell the stories of those here in Baltimore. – @ChrisWilsonbalt at @lightcityu #lightcity
— BoMF Baltimore (@BoMFBaltimore) March 29, 2016

---

Sharing Skills to Advance Communities
Featuring D. Watkins, Author, The Beast Side; Professor, University of Baltimore and Lance Lucas, Founder of Digit All Systems

“You can be in a housing project or be a Trump supporter. We all want the same thing: success.” -D. Watkins

“Instead of taking pictures of people’s pain, show them how to use the camera.” -D. Watkins

“We are giving away 500 copies of my book for free, so we can make Baltimore the city that reads again.” -D. Watkins

“You never know who you touch with technology.” -Lance Lucas, who has been teaching IT courses to disenfranchised communities since 1998

.@DigitAllSystems Lance Lucas “We are woefully under-prepared to get people into this market.” #Tech #LightCityU
— Volunteer Maryland (@VolunteerMD) March 29, 2016

---

Powering the Future
Featuring Calvin Butler, CEO, BGE, Val Jensen, ComEd, Director of Smart Pole, Gene Rodrigues, Vice President, ICF, Chris Gould, Chief Sustainability Officer, Exelon

“There is going to be more change in the next 10 years in the energy industry then there has been in the past 100.” -Chris Gould

---

Solar for All: Clean Energy, Job Creation, and the New Economy
Featuring Nicole Steele, Executive Director, Grid Alternatives

“Solar power jobs have grown by 120 percent over the last five years,” said Nicole Steele, noting that the cost of solar has dropped by 75 percent during the same period. “In 2016, it’s projected that 30,000 jobs will be added to the industry.”

---

Taking Initiative for Our Future 
Adam Lindquist, Director of Healthy Harbor Initiative and John Kellet, President of Clearwater Mills LLC & Baltimore Trash Wheel

“Baltimore is unique in a lot of ways, but we’re not unique in that we have trash in our waterways.” -John Kellet

“It [the Trash Wheel] has had virtually no breakdowns, mainly because it’s so simple.” -John Kellet
“We’ve found it’s [the Trash Wheel] about one-tenth of the coast of chasing the trash around with boats.” -Adam Lindquist

“If you did four water wheels here, you could remove 90 percent of the trash in the harbor.” -John Kellet

Junior @MrTrashWheel lookin good at @lightcityu teaching us about full-size version keeping @LightCityBmore clean pic.twitter.com/ab3V34Z6rw
— Pinkard Properties (@PinkardProp) March 30, 2016

---

Using Modern Technology to Address Conservation Behavior Change powered by The National Aquarium 
Featuring Bryan Barnes, Director of Digital Marketing Strategy, National Aquarium; Nabila Chami, Social Media Manager, National Aquarium; and Heather Doggett, Director of Guest Engagement, National Aquarium

[Ed note: This focused on the aquarium’s successful 48 Days of Blue social media campaign from April 22-June 8, which asked participants to adopt minor behavior modifications for the benefit of the environment such as forgoing straws in drinks or shortening their shower.]

“We challenge you to make small daily changes . . . Sometimes they’re a little harder, like planting a tree . . . But some of the challenges are really simple, like detoxing your mailbox and getting rid of all that junk mail that you already hate receiving.” -Nabila Chami 

“If we’re asking people, chiefly for our campaign, to share information  . . . We had to understand what was cool and what was uncool and make that part of our mission, as well.” -Nabila Chami

“We don’t want people to feel hopeless. We want people to feel hopeful!” #48daysofblue #lightcitybaltimore pic.twitter.com/nUO6TARJKJ
— kate rowe (@katekatebear) March 30, 2016

“We recently found out that our average attention span is eight seconds, down from 12 seconds in the year 2000. We literally have the attention span of a goldfish. It’s not because we’re getting dumber, it’s because we’re being bombarded with messages from the moment that we wake up until the moment that we go to bed. So if we want someone to do something, to take action, we have to make that information super accessible and it has to be easy.” -Nabila Chami

“There’s research that shows that every time you do a public commitment, saying ‘I pledge to do the thing,’ it actually increases the likelihood for real of you doing that thing.”-Heather Doggett

“In the 93 percent zone, people say, ‘I recycle plastic.’ But when we ask them to refuse plastic, that’s a totally different story. People are more into contemplating or thinking about it than doing it.” -Heather Doggett

---

A Livable City: The Adaptive Challenge of the Urban Century
Featuring Lindsay Thompson, Founder, City Lab, Professor, Carey Business School

“Last year, the United Nations defined 17 global challenges to sustainable development. They’re all connected, in some way, to the global scale of urbanization. What this means is that global challenges are city challenges.” -Lindsay Thompson

“These 17 challenges really boil down to five factors: place, people, community, citizens, property.” -Lindsay Thompson

“In the U.S., focusing on livable cities means 85 percent of the population is living in 100 cities producing 85 percent of the GDP on 12 percent of the land mass. Urban populations occupy less than 3 percent of the world’s land mass. Global challenges are much more manageable if you think about them as cities.” -Lindsay Thompson

“Let’s talk about the urban experiment. You are the subject of this experiment. You’re the lab rats. You’re also the investigators, the scientists in this experiment. There’s no escape. Baltimore is your laboratory. The scary part: no one’s in charge. How this experiment turns out will determine not only your future, but the future of all of humanity on the plant. So no pressure.”-Lindsay Thompson

“A short time ago, we became an urban species. . . . By 2050, two-thirds of us will live in cities. By the end of the 21st century almost everyone in the world will live in a city. In the short space of a couple centuries, we will have transformed from an almost entirely agrarian, pastoral, tribal species to an almost entirely urban, tribe-less species.” -Lindsay Thompson

“Our tribal identities are tied to sports teams, high schools, but many of us are tribe-less.” -Lindsay Thompson

“As a highly complex, adaptive species, our physiology, our brains, our stress response systems, our emotional circuitry, our language skills, our social dispositions, and our powerful intellect all evolved for us to thrive and flourish in small tribes, close to familiar people and places, ready to take on together, the challenges of our environment. We didn’t evolve for cities. It took us hundreds of millennia to invent cities. . . . So why did we invent cities if they suck?” -Lindsay Thompson

@JHUCarey ‘we need to re-invent cities with livability in them’- Lindsay Thompson #UrbanDesign #LightCityBaltimore
— Katie (@KatieCherry02) March 31, 2016

“We invented prototype cities 11,000 years ago for three reasons: safety, community, and commerce. But we did not intend cities to be permanent residences. We mostly lived outside the walls and came and went from cities for functional purposes.” -Lindsay Thompson

“So how is this urban experiment going? On one hand, cities are indisputably one of humanity’s greatest, most ingenious, inventions. And this prototype city turned out to be a platform of unprecedented wealth creation and opportunity. There’s no disputing that. The wealth creation capabilities of capitalism would not even be possible without cities.” -Lindsay Thompson

“Most of us here are among the educated, healthy, affluent and lucky people who thrive in cities, and that makes it easy for us to think that cities work for everybody, but we know—especially here Baltimore—we know they don’t work for everybody. Some of us wonder, ‘What’s the problem with those people?’ But the question is really just the opposite: What is wrong with cities and what can we do to make them work for everybody?” -Lindsay Thompson

“You may not think this, but ugliness [of environment] is a risk.”  -Lindsay Thompson

“Violence and crime are not just violence and crime, they are acts of political resistance from people who have lost faith in civil society.” -Lindsay Thompson

“We need to refocus and rebalance for human purposes for our city for safety, community, wealth and commerce. . . . Start with your neighborhoods. Think of a city as organic. Neighborhoods are the cell structure of cities. You can’t know 600,000 people, but you can know the six people on your block, and 60 people in your neighborhood, and you can build a network of people who can take charge of the human experiment and make this city work.” -Lindsay Thompson

---

The New Social Fabric
Featuring Sarah Hemminger, Co-Founder, CEO, Thread

“Building this community in Baltimore is not only possible, it’s essential. It is a quiet revolution that our city needs.” -Sarah Hemminger

Sarah Hemminger at #CityGarage talking about giving the youth who society has given up on the chance to succeed. pic.twitter.com/7OhXcCzSre
— Thomas Wise (@thomaswiseguy) April 1, 2016

---

Breathing Space: Arts, Festivals & Public Art for Social Change
Featuring Alex Rinsler, Public Artist, Festival Producer and Founding Director of the Giant’s Foundry

“Notice the rebellious thoughts that you have this week that are inspired and sparked by your environment and when the festival is over, its up to you to implement them after what you have experienced.” -Alex Rinsler

“Please don’t hand over a city to an artist, there won’t be buses. Well, there will be buses, but they’ll be covered in glitter.” -Alex Rinsler

“Festivals turn things upside down. And I think that’s very interesting because it’s that moment of fresh thinking when decisions can be made.” -Alex Rinsler

---

The 3 C’s of 3D: Creativity, Collaboration, Connectivity
Featuring Jan Baum, Executive Director at 3D Innovations Institute

“Light is the perfect metaphor for Baltimore. Now more than ever.” -Jan Baum

“Our world is connected but our organizations are not.” – Jan Baum #LightCityU #LightCityBaltimore
— Julie Stromberg (@JulieStromberg) April 1, 2016

---

Sharing Creative Power: Why We Must Create Opportunity for Innovation in Young Women
Featuring Richelle Parham, Former CMO of eBay

“I was at dinner with my mother last night and took a picture of a picture of people cleaning their marble stairs to send to my cousins. We used to have to clean my grandmothers marble stairs . . . I really feel such a connection to the city.” -Richelle Parham

---

Collaborative Competition: Encouraging Young Women to Embolden One Another
Featuring Reshma Saujani, Founder Girls Who Code

“We teach our girls to be perfect and we teach our boys to be brave.” -Reshma Saujani

“I got an email from Sheryl Sandberg! I love Sheryl Sandberg like I love Beyoncé.” -Reshma Saujani

---

Steve Case on the Internet’s Third Wave
Featuring Mike Hankin, CEO Brown Advisory, and Steve Case, Co-Founder of AOL, CEO Revolution LLC

“If you felt spammed by our discs, I’m sorry, but it worked!” -Steve Case on AOL free trials

Steve Case at @lightcityu: Venture capital funds should not be reserved solely for white men #diversifythecreativeclass
— jasmineshanbrie (@jasmineshanbrie) April 1, 2016

“Mind the 3 P’s: people, passion, and perseverance.” -Steve Case on growing a business

“I’ve always had a soft spot for Baltimore.” -Steve Case

But it was the moments that you would spontaneously encounter that made this night special, allowing you see how it could become an annual Baltimore tradition.

You might happen upon a bundled-up crowd clustered around Baltimore artist Paul Rucker playing his cello and handing out twinkling star lights to anyone who answered questions related to his work that focuses on the history of Baltimore’s slave trade. At the end of his performance, he asked the star holders to wave their lights, and told them, “You’re all bright stars, don’t forget that.”

Or as you walked underneath the shimmering Pixel Promenade, you’d hear gasps of delight as parents lifted children up to get a better look at the vibrant lights. Or you’d hear the cheers of the crowd when bike riders who were part of the “Dear Baltimore” light work peddled by, their neon letters giving the City That Reads a great reminder—“Read Baltimore.”

Yes, the advisory-strength gusts did wreak havoc and the installation Labyrinth had to be taken down, though organizers hope the work will be back up soon. The lantern parade also kicked off when it wasn’t quite dark enough for lights to shine brightly (begging the question—did anyone remember daylight savings time?), as was also the case when soul group Bosley rocked the Harbor East stage at 7 p.m.

The exceptional moments continued in one of the last events of the night—a performance by legendary ’80s synth-pop musician and Johns Hopkins University professor Thomas Dolby, who took the main stage wearing a lab coat and a paperboy cap that held a pair of his signature, steam-punk goggles. “Baltimore, you look beautiful!” he declared enthusiastically.

When the opening notes of arguably his biggest hit “She Blinded Me With Science” thumped across the stage, Dolby invited out two young dancers, who popped and locked along with the beat, alongside a duo of belly dancers rhythmically swaying their hips. Their enthusiasm was contagious, enlivening the crowd of young and old, black and white.

When the dancers clasped hands to take their bows, you could feel the crowd’s excitement as they celebrated the collaboration and artistic talent that makes Baltimore so unique.

Light Installations

(all located at the Inner Harbor)

Dear Baltimore (Thick Art Studios, Baltimore)
While you’re strolling the harbor, art might whizz right by you. Keep your eyes out for a jumble of neon letters propelled by bicycles that spell out phrases composed of the letters from “Dear Baltimore.”

Pipelines (Luminous Intervention, Baltimore)
This piece “really brings home the social justice component of the festival,” says Light City co-founder Justin Allen. It consists of a large-scale projection mapping at McKeldin Fountain that presents some of the issues that Baltimore faces: police violence, recreation, education, and housing. Along with the piece, the artists have arranged forums and musical performances to relate to the content so we can continue the dialogue surrounding this important work.

Peacock (Tim Scofield and Kyle Miller, Baltimore)
When this illuminated fowl unfurls its tail to stand 20-foot-tall and 40-feet-wide, it will be quite the sight to see.

Diamonds Light Baltimore (Cheon Kroiz, Artist and Architect Collaborative, Baltimore)
The 15, diamond-esque structures that will surround the harbor will use light to do more than just highlight these geometric shapes. At 10 p.m. each night, the lights will change from white to blue, to signify the curfew that went into effect after the unrest following the death of Freddie Gray. You can walk inside and around each structure and you ponder what has changed and what hasn’t since last April.

Labyrinth (Ian Brill, Pittsburgh, PA)
Mazes have frequently been thought of as metaphors for a spiritual journey. In this case, they become a symbol of the transformative power of art. Festival visitors are encouraged to get lost in this installation, whether together or separately, and you might be amazed to be immersed in something made solely of light and sound.

Tips & Transportation The only street closure will occur in Harbor East—Lancaster Street from Exeter Street to Central Avenue, which is by a performance stage, will shut down at 6 p.m. each night of the festival. If you’re concerned about parking, check out BaltimoreParking.com, where you can reserve and pay for a spot. And BOPA’s Kathy Hornig says many of the garages will have Light City deals. Light Rail and Metro will also run at least an hour after the festival’s 11 p.m. end time. Download the free Light City app—created by local technology innovation agency Mindgrub—to get maps and schedules to customize your experience.

Light City Baltimore
Mar. 28-April 3. Various locations. Free.
To celebrate the vibrancy of Baltimore’s arts scene, the city will host Light City Baltimore. The weeklong festival will combine art installations, music and theater performances, and tech and innovation conferences in an eclectic, electric experience unlike anything ever staged in the U.S. Highlights will include a 1.5-mile Inner Harbor promenade past 51 large-scale, luminous installations, and four innovation conferences with speakers ranging from AOL founder Steve Case to Radiolab host Jad Abumrad. All events are free, except for the conferences, but organizers are reserving a quarter of all conference tickets for community members, free of charge.—AM

---

Leon Bridges
Mar. 4. Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. 8 p.m. $48-58. 410-837-7400. Man, Leon Bridges. The 26-year-old Southern soul singer did a number on our hearts last spring when he dropped his swoon-worthy single, “Coming Home.” By summer, he was a radio sensation, reminding us of such seminal songwriters as Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, and by winter, he had become a likely contender for “Best R&B Album” at the 2016 Grammy Awards. Quick shot to stardom or not, he’s one of the best young voices out there, and his retro sound is here to stay.

---

Kurt Vile & The Violators
Mar. 4. Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St. 8 p.m. $20. 410-662-0069. We love the opening of Kurt Vile’s “Wakin on a Pretty Day.” You can feel every swipe of fret in each guitar twang; every ounce of suburban ennui in each lusty lyric; every inch of warmth in the song’s slow, heart-tugging prettiness. This former War on Drugs bandmate makes you feel as if you’re in on his internal monologue, like you’re riding in a car together, lazily staring out the window at the sun. Go out of your way to hear his gentle indie-rock in Remington at the beginning of the month.

---

Motown
Mar. 8-13. Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. Times vary. $48.50-213.50. 410-837-7400. It all started in Detroit, in a little white house with blue windows, and the words “Hitsville U.S.A.” above the door. There, Berry Gordy created an iconic record label that would go on to launch legends like Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations. This month, hear their hits at the Hippodrome, like “My Girl” and “ABC.”

---

Baltimore Jewish Film Festival
Mar. 12-Apr. 17. Gordon Center for Performing Arts, 3506 Gwynnbrook Ave., Owings Mills. Times vary. $5-15. 410-356-5200. Now in its 28th year, the Baltimore Jewish Film Festival returns with more than a month of cinema, featuring 13 films steeped in Jewish culture, tradition, and life. Each travels across the globe to show different perspectives of Jewish history, ranging from Paris in 1944 and Israel in 1985 to Argentina in 1994 and Texas in 2014. Through comedy, drama, documentary, and animation, the films tell tales of food and family, tragedy and triumph, with director presentations, Q&A sessions, and special guests.

---

St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Mar. 13. Washington Monument, 699 N. Washington Pl. 2 p.m. Free. During the month of March, Charm City turns into an Emerald Isle outpost as windows are riddled with shamrocks and taps overfloweth with green beer. On the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day, celebrate Irish culture and heritage with the city’s 61st annual parade, featuring bagpipes, marching bands, floats, and antique cars as they make their way to Market Place.

---

Ira Glass
Mar. 13. Goucher College, 1021 Dulaney Valley Rd., Towson. 7 p.m. $45-135. 410-235-1660. You know his voice. It comes to you in your car, at work, before bedtime, telling you stories of average and extraordinary people, from 9/11 survivors to long-lost friends. As the creator and host of This American Life, Baltimore native Ira Glass can be heard on his 20-year-old show via more than 500 stations across the country. This month, put a face to the name when he comes to town to talk about the future of radio. (See our recent interview with Glass.)

---

National Cherry Blossom Festival
Mar. 20-Apr. 17: Washington, D.C. Locations, times, prices vary. 877-44-BLOOM. Washington, D.C., dusts off its red and blue colors and turns a special shade of pink this month, during the 104th Cherry Blossom Festival. For more than three full weeks, celebrate the arrival of spring with over 3,000 beautiful, budding cherry trees, 1.5 million spectators, and countless international cultural performances and events, including a blowout party, kite festival, and parade down Constitution Avenue. While you’re there, be sure to swing through some of the city’s spectacular national landmarks and free museums.

---

BSO Pulse: Dr. Dog
Mar. 24. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. 8:30 p.m. $35. 410-783-8000. When it launched last fall, we praised Pulse for its innovative concept of creating concerts that paired indie-rock bands with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. But we didn’t fully appreciate its importance until we saw Baltimore’s beloved Wye Oak perform in November. Chills, is all we can say, so now we’re extra excited for the next one, with outside-the-box alt-rockers Dr. Dog.