ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - s4story -- Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts kicks off its annual Class Acts Series with their first BAM! Fest Thursday, August 31st from 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM (BAM! Fest stands for Books, Art, Music Interactive Youth Arts Festivals) is a series of field trips for school children that celebrate performing and visual arts. The series fosters connection, creativity, imagination as well as social emotional learning.The festival is held outdoors on the waterfront Plaza and is held monthly throughout the school year.

"It's an immersive and magical adventure celebrating the joy of reading and creativity," said Katrina Young, Education and Youth Outreach Coordinator for Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts. "We're excited to have themed festivals throughout this school year and have added two additional STEM themed festivals to be announced at a later date."

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The first field trip is BAM!: Get LIT with English as the curriculum connection. The first of the series is designed for grades 3-5, where students will explore book stations, enjoy interactive puppet shows, create their own stories and book covers, and engage in a thrilling literary scavenger hunt.

"We are going into our 30th Year for Class Acts by making these programs available to our school children in the Tampa Bay area," said Bill Edwards, Founder & CEO of Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts. "It gives me great joy to see these kids having such a wonderful time taking part in a drum circle, drawing chalk designs on our walkways, or the sheer enthusiasm you see when the kids get a free book. It's a day to take the classroom outside and get exposure to the arts in a unique environment. We really want to inspire our youth and give them every opportunity to learn about all the aspects of the arts - whether it's reading, music, performing or visual," he continued.

As part of their 30th Year, the Class Acts Field Trips are now available at no charge to schools throughout the six-county Tampa Bay area. Each trip is created to inspire a passion for the performing arts, while being simultaneously linked to current Florida B.E.S.T. Standards. Bus scholarships are available.

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The Schedule for the series is:
8/31/23  Get LITerature!
10/02/23 Messy Art on the Plaza
11/08/23  IMPROV Festival
12/13/23 Holiday Traditions on the Plaza
3/19/24  Dance: On Your Feet Festival
4/08/24  Music and Mayhem on the Plaza
*TBD  STEM
*TBD  STEM

About Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts -
Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts was founded as a 501(c 3)  nonprofit in 2011 and is dedicated to providing arts education programs, community outreach, live performances as well as concerts and all genres of performing arts for the entire community with emphasis on culturally diverse programming for youth and families. The foundation is the support arm for the programming at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts - Mahaffey Theater. For more information about the foundation visit, BillEdwardsFoundationfortheArts.org or
TheMahaffey.com or call 727.650.0407