Special Events
In addition to over 110 incredible films, there will be live music, workshops, performance, art, wine, parties and so much more throughout the festival weekend.
OPENING RECEPTIONS – FREE TO THE PUBLIC
Start the festival off with light hors d’oeuvres, local wine, and beer from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Friday, 4-7pm
Mowen Solinsky Gallery, 225 Broad St.
APPLE Center, 412 Commercial St.
FRIDAY NIGHT OPENING MUSIC
Arrive early to the venues on Friday and enjoy the music of local musicians. For more information about the bands see our music page.
NATIVE AMERICAN FILMS & STORIES
The Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe present a special film session on Friday night at the Nevada Theatre, with special guest John Trudell. We’ll screen the stunning film Trudell, an award-winning film from our 2005 Festival, and feature a Q&A with John Trudell after the film. + Live music, films, and presentations.
LATE NIGHT MUSIC
Join us after the films on Friday & Saturday night for late night music at the Haven Underground, 226 Broad Street. On Friday check out the homemade harmonies of The Railflowers, with Professor Burns & the Lilac Field opening, and on Saturday stomp your feet to the rootsy rhythms of The Dead Winter Carpenters, with Brett Shady opening. For more information about the bands, see our music page.
WORKSHOPS – FREE TO THE PUBLIC
Learn more about the issues and what you can do, get filmmaking tips from pros, and much more at our Activist Center at Nevada City’s City Hall on Saturday and Sunday, open at 9:30am. Check out our workshop page for details about all of the workshops in our Activist Center. Be sure to stop by to meet reps from local and regional organizations tabling in the foyer. In addition, the A.P.P.L.E. Center will also be hosting a workshop, Saturday, 2:30-3:30pm.
SATURDAY MORNING KID FILMS
Kids of all ages are invited to attend the Saturday Morning Kid Films session on Saturday, 9:30am-noon, at the Nevada Theatre (doors open at 9am). Tickets are only $7 for adults or children, and will be sold (if available) at the box office at the theater (cash only, please). PLEASE NOTE: Saturday Morning Kid Films requires a separate ticket, even if you possess a weekend pass. Buy your ticket early … they will sell out!
AWARDS CEREMONY
Be the first to learn of the award-winning films, Saturday, 4:15pm, in the Stone Hall of the Foundry. Sat. Morn/Aft Ticket or Weekend Pass required. Limited seating. First come, first served. Champagne served, courtesy of Barefoot Winery.
WINE & ART STROLL
Nevada County is increasingly known for our fabulous local wine. Take a stroll during the evening break between films and sample local wines (& beer at the APPLE Center). Enjoy the art that will be on display at dozens of venues all over town. Saturday, 4:30 – 6:30pm. Separate ticket required, available at Fest HQ for $15. Organized by the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce.
ART SHOWS – FREE TO THE PUBLIC
Nevada County is a mecca for talented artists. We are partnering with Nevada County Arts to bring over 57 artists from throughout the Yuba Watershed and beyond that are featured at this years’ festival. While sipping your wine or beer, stroll through the art shows and attend the many artists receptions happening during the wine stroll. Also, visit the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley for a special artists reception on Saturday from 4:30-7pm, before the Amy Goodman presentation at the Grass Valley Vets Hall. Stop by any SYRCL booth or Fest HQ to pick up a special program listing all of our featured artists and venues.
DAM REMOVAL CELEBRATION – FREE TO THE PUBLIC
American Rivers, the South Yuba River Citizens League & Patagonia invite you to celebrate Dams Coming Down! Join filmmaker Andy Maser for a premiere of The Craziest Idea with incredible footage of the Elwha & Condit Dam removals. Come watch some spectacular explosions, and share a toast to celebrate rivers running wild and free. There will be an opportunity to take action to help remove more outdated dams and restore wild salmon habitat, and win great raffle items. Free beer and salmon (until it runs out).
The Dam Removal Event will also feature a special performance of the Gold Fish. The Gold Fish is a one-act slapstick musical in which a poor wayfaring Salmon has to pawn her eggs to gamble for river passage, a Water Nymph casino dealer confronts its water-wars PTSD, the Army Chorus of Engineers gets lost, the Water Tycoon’s dirty dealing ends in cataclysmic wash-out, and the Riparian Dispossessed Choir arises. Perhaps you’ll see Flo there too! Saturday, 5:30-6:30pm at the Haven Underground.
Keep your eyes peeled throughout the weekend for Flo, the fish about town. She will be popping up in all sorts of unlikely locations. The person who gets the most accurate Flo sightings will win a weekend pass to the 2013 festival. Pick up your scorecard at any SYRCL booth or Fest HQ.
AMY GOODMAN
Please join Wild & Scenic and KVMR for a special film session with Amy Goodman on Saturday night at 7pm at the Grass Valley Vets Hall. Amy will talk about her lifetime of work in independent media. We will also screen the film, Schooling the World: the White Man’s Last Burden, with a Q&A after the film.
WILD & SCENIC GALA
Rub elbows with the festival’s special guests and meet other film enthusiasts while enjoying wine and gourmet hors d’oeuvres in the beautiful Nevada City Winery. Saturday evening, 10pm- midnight at the Nevada City Winery.
STREET PERFORMANCES – FREE TO THE PUBLIC
Lower Commercial Street will be closed to cars Saturday and Sunday, and we’re turning it into a festival gathering spot. Keep your eyes peeled (and your tweets updated) for live music, theater, and other festivities on Commercial Street throughout the weekend.
Kids Salmon Parade!
SYRCL will host a Salmon Parade to bring attention to the plight of the Yuba River’s wild salmon population. Come learn about the salmon life cycle, the state of wild salmon and trout in the Yuba River, and celebrate salmon as we spawn up Broad Street. Bring a life size salmon cut out (some will be available at the parade). Meet at noon, following the Kids Film Session, in front of the Nevada Theatre.
Climate Trial Puppet Theater
Performed by Peaceful Uprising and sponsored by Finding the Good Semester Program, Nevada City. The trial of climate activist Tim DeChristopher was postponed nine times before finally taking place in March 2011. In November 2010, a group of Peaceful Uprising activists, including Tim, decided to stage their own trial. They wrote a brilliant play, and created larger-than-life puppets with the help of artist/activist David Solnit. Unlike anything seen at Wild & Scenic before, YOU, the audience, are the jury in this live theater. Saturday evening on Commercial Street.
ECO TOURS – FREE TO THE PUBLIC
Co-Housing
Take a fun tour of Nevada City’s unique co-housing project with architect Katie McCamant on Sunday, 10am. Meet in front of the Nevada Theatre.
Trail Walk
Take a break from watching films to get out in the natural world. Join Sierra Streams Institute and naturalist David Lukas for an hour-long stroll on the new Tribute Trail along Deer Creek. They will share information about the Deer Creek watershed, and the ecology, hydrology and natural history of the area. Meet at 12pm on Sunday in front of the Miners Foundry.
NEW THIS YEAR!
Sunday Night Films and After Party
In collaboration with the Nevada Theatre Film Series we will be showing a selection of this years’ award winning films. Keep your ears open for the line-up after the awards are announced on Saturday. This session requires a separate ticket. Sunday, 7:00pm
After all of the films are over, end the weekend with style at the National Hotel! Join local favorites The Belfry Brothers for some raucous old-timey music and dancing in the bar at the historic National Hotel. Sunday, 9pm. $3 at the door.
The A.P.P.L.E. Center for Sustainable Living at 412 Commercial Street, will be hosting several Festival activities throughout the weekend. Please stop by to hear first-hand about Nevada City’s sustainability movement, and for these special events:
Festival Opening Reception – Friday 4-7pm, hors d’oeuvres and wine
Locally Grown Soup Lunch – Saturday & Sunday 12-1pm. Made by the Living Lands Agrarian Network. Suggested $5 donation.
Special FREE Workshop
Observe, Participate, Reflect: The Land Ethic Leaders Method. Saturday, 2:30- 3:30pm, Limited to 30 participants. The Aldo Leopold Foundation has developed a program to create opportunities for community dialogue about humanity’s relationships to the natural world. The Land Ethic Leaders program engages participants in developing a personal land ethic—observing the natural world through scientific inquiry, participating in work on the land, and reflecting on their experiences. Participants lead reflective discussions to deepen conversation about our relation to the natural world. The program takes place over two days, so this workshop provides participants with just a taste of what Land Ethic Leaders is all about. This workshop follows Green Fire, a film about Aldo Leopold’s life, on Saturday afternoon (the film will screen again on Sunday).
Wine Stroll
Saturday 4-6pm. The Center is a stop on the Wine Stroll – but here you’ll get to taste Sierra Nevada beer! Check out the link to learn more about the A.P.P.L.E. Center‘s classes and programs.
