FABRIC is a festival of contemporary art and music, which proposes another experience of Fall River: a cultural vision of the city, in a narrative that reinterprets its industrial heritage in relation to the present Portuguese culture.

The Portuguese community of Fall River is one of the largest in the United States – especially of Azorean origin – which makes FABRIC a unique opportunity to further strengthen the relationship between the USA and Portugal.

Organized by the House of the Azores of New England, the festival is curated by Jesse James, Sofia Carolina Botelho (both from Walk&Talk), and António Pedro Lopes (from the Tremor Festival), which facilitated a cross between the cultural landscapes of both regions.

The Fabric Arts Festival proposes to involve the city in its tradition and its artistic and cultural avant-garde, through a unique and hybrid experience with an art circuit that involves the various cultural and geographical contexts of the city. Fall River has not only the Portuguese community present but also the Italian, Cape Verdean, Polish, English, French and Canadian communities, among many others.

By merging Fall River’s present and past, the festival has music concerts, murals and specific projects to establish a synergistic dialogue between its urban territory and the various local communities that inhabit it.

These communities were attracted to Fall River in the 19th and 20th centuries due to its growing textile industry, which is why today several artists, carpenters, and designers come together in this city to develop their work.

Given the effort made to preserve Fall River’s industrial heritage, renew the city’s cultural link with Portugal and promote collaborations between local cultural agents and festival artists, the Luso-American Development Foundation sponsors this festival that brings Portugal and the United States closer together, in the representation of Portuguese culture in the city of Fall River.

For more information on future editions, visit here.