Bold Hat also organizes the Fremont Oktoberfest, Kirkland Uncorked and, this year, the Fremont Street Fair. “You always have competition in this town,” he said, about choosing a date. In shifting the date, Megenhardt didn’t fear losing attendees – or distributors. Ultimately, though, the festival raises funds – this year for the Seattle International Film Festival, coming May 20 – June 13. In addition, they offer samplers of scotch and tequila, with experts on-hand, including Ari Shapiro, an authentic ‘Master of Whisky’, to discuss tastes and palette, and lead seminars. They offer samplings of over 60 handcrafted microbrews, import beers and small lot wines – specifically from new spring collections. It has also grown to be so much more than beer. Photo by Patrick Wright Photography, 2009

Most people assumed Hop Scotch took place outside, because of its generously-large beer garden. “We call it the Spring Beer Festival,” Megenhardt said, “and this is still spring.” This year’s date change also came at the behest of the venue management, and moved the Festival up a week or two to April 23 & 24. According to Megenhardt, the date shift grew the audience exponentially. The event moved to Fremont four years ago, but the selected venue ( Fremont Studios – 155 North 35th) asked to move the date to May. “People thought it was going to be outside,” he said, as most people think ‘outdoors’ when they think ‘beer garden’. Phil Megenhardt, owner of Bold Hat Productions and Event Producer, explained that the first few years they had people show up bundled in coats, hats and gloves. Originally called ‘Hops on the Equinox’, the festival took place around March 2st at Seattle Center. Over the seven years of the Festival, it has changed name, location and dates enough times that it may well become part of the fun of Hop Scotch. Photo by Patrick Wright PhotographyĪs Hop Scotch comes early this year – a change the organizers of the Spring Beer & Scotch Tasting Festival expect most fans, and new visitors, to take with equanimity. There is a chance that we may be able to see a line between the above notions more clearly as we watch the performances.The crowd at the 2009 Hop Scotch Festival in Fremont Studios. A lecture performance by Elena Kovylina, devoted to the issue of positioning Russian art in the Western countries, will be held on the opening day. Varieties of an answer will be formed «here and now.» As a result, every spectator is going to be a member of the creative process as the context becomes a must-be ingredient for co-producing a work of art. The participants of the festival will be researching in real time, and therefore there will be no prefab answers to questions asked during the event. Spectators and critics are invited to discuss the performances by taking part in lectures and debates that will include such issues as «The Significance of an Image in the Art of Performance» and «Performance as a Way of Conducting a Self-enquiry.» carry out a research into the subjects pertinent to reality, loneliness, virtual space, and interaction. The Media Performance Laboratory artists in collaboration with the curators Oleg Makarov and Patrick K.-H. The members of the dance company Po.V.S.Tantsy are involved in the production of a play called Shum Zo (the noise of Zo), in which they examine the movements and the transformation of a group as organism. The students of Performance Art Studio and the curator Liza Morozova have joined forces for exploring a rare trend of existential bodily performance. Under the artistic supervision of Yelena Kovylina, PYRFYR Performance School students conduct a research into the issues related to an image and imagery in the art of movement. The weeklong festival includes more than twenty performances to be delivered by both full-fledged artists and art school students. There will be several other performances which are rather difficult to name properly at the moment. conceptual, plastic, media, theatrical, sound, poetry. The festival will consist of various kinds of performances e.g. «Hopscotch» is an art festival extending an invitation to explore the bounds and trends of modern performance by exchanging experience in the field of performance arts and similar art forms.

Hop scotch festival