If you think that other people’s dreams are boring, you will likely be surprised at Ione’s Dream Festival, where dreams are celebrated as the deepest source of creativity, auspicious and always-truthful revealers of otherwise-repressed emotions and even fosterers of community, given the universality of dreaming not only among humans, but also many animals. “Sharing dreams and dream creations can help dissolve the cultural and class demarcations that keep us separate from one another,” said Festival founder Ione.
Held on Saturday, October 1, this year’s Dream Festival will have two Kingston venues: the Deep Listening Institute, whose artistic director Ione has hosted the event for 16 years, located in the Shirt Factory; and the loft theater at 101 Greenkill Avenue run by Stella May Productions. The Festival kicks off from 3 to 6 p.m. with the “Marathon of Dreamers”: dream-tellings by artists and performers including the band Mamalama, authors David Felton, Rachel Koenig and Bethany Goldpaugh Brown, singer/songwriter Jaclyn Heyen, musician C. Lavender, vocalist Lisa Barnard Kelley and musician David Arner. Jo Andres’ short film Liquid Tara will also be screened.
The performances will be broadcast online at Deep Listening’s website, www.deeplistening.org. Members of the audience are also welcome to share a dream and bring a potluck dish. Admission is a $5 suggested donation.
At 6:30 p.m., the activities will shift to the Stella May Gallery Theatre, which will host a reception for “100 Artists/100 Dreams,” a project by La Leona Arts. It will feature a new exhibit, titled “Dreamers,” on view through October 27, and a showing of the preview of 100 Artists/100 Dreams: The Film at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission; $8 for students and seniors; advance discounted tickets are available online at www.deeplistening.org. Each ticketholder will receive a glass containing a “dream cocktail” mixed by Kyle Kelley.
Curated by Sadee Brathwaite, the “100 Artists/100 Dreams” project features local and international artists and explores their role in the culture at large as visionaries and keepers of the creative fires. It will culminate in a film, an exhibition that will open next year and an installation. Local participating artists include Matthew Maley, Patti Gibbons, Lindsey Graham, Faheem Haider, Lisa Barnard Kelley, Moya Marcelino, Suzanne V. Paddock, Shirley Parker-Benjamin, Joe Pimental and Melissa Toth. To view the exhibit at Stella May, call (845) 331-7955 for an appointment.
An after-Festival party will be held at Mint, a restaurant and wine bar located at 1 West Strand in the Rondout, with “dream specials” cooked up by Chef Graziano Tecchio: a refreshingly concrete way to wind up a Festival of Dreams.
For more information and a calendar of Dream Festival events, visit www.deeplistening.org or call (845) 338-5984.
Join the family! 
