Musical Program For MPAartfest 2023 Features Top Blues, Jazz Artists

MCLEAN, VA — MPAartfest 2023, coming to McLean Central Park in October, will feature everything from nu jazz and progressive soul to a female blues supergroup and a 15-piece youth swing big band.

The festival’s musical program features an international roster of critically acclaimed artists that will perform on Sunday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Along with the MPAartfest Music Stage presented by Mars, MPAartfest will feature visual artists’ tents as well as food from local restaurants, the New Dominion Women’s Club Children’s Art Walk, and a hands-on Children’s Art Village.

The 17th annual MPAartfest is presented by the McLean Project for the Arts, with the help of the McLean Community Center and a partnership with the Fairfax County Park Authority.

The musical program at MPAartfest has been curated by Ken Avis, radio host of Antidote on WERA 96.7 FM and a performing musician with the award-winning band Veronneau.

Blues Alley Youth Orchestra will kick off the day at 10 a.m., followed by nu jazz/progressive soul singer Alison Crockett at 11 a.m.

Folk-blues singer-songwriter Bobby Thompson will kick off the noon hour followed by the blues, zydeco, funk and gospel music of Little Red & The Renegade at 1 p.m.

The Honey Larks, who will take the stage at 2 p.m., are a blues supergroup composed of Carly Harvey (D.C.’s queen of the blues), Jenny Langer (Blues Hall of Fame), and Holly Montgomery (Blue Elan Records).

The three friends came together for a one-off jam session that wound up evolving into a female blues sensation, with fans requesting more performances.

Puerto Rican vocalist Taisha Estrada will close out the MPAartfest Music Stage at 3 p.m.

MPAartfest will also feature the work of visual artists that will transform McLean Central Park into a landscape of mini art galleries showcasing and offering for sale the work of artists from the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

Festival admission is free. Parking will be available at the McLean Community Center at 1234 Ingleside Avenue.