Williamsburg, VA – (March 2, 2016) – Grammy®-winning singer-songwriter Bruce Hornsby and Virginia Arts Festival announce a music festival that gathers award-winning, iconic artists for three days of music-making in Williamsburg, on the lawn of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, June 24-26.

FUNHOUSE FESTIVAL

Presented by VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL and

BRUCE HORNSBY

June 24-26, 2016

The lawn of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg

Featuring

BRUCE HORNSBY & THE NOISEMAKERS

RICKY SKAGGS & BRUCE HORNSBY

With Kentucky Thunder

COLVIN & EARLE

THE TAJ MAHAL TRIO

GREENSKY BLUEGRASS

RAILROAD EARTH

JACK DEJOHNETTE

Featuring Ravi Coltrane and Matt Garrison

AOIFE O’DONOVAN

CHESSBOXER

Named after Hornsby’s 1998 song “Funhouse,” the festival is curated by Hornsby and unites musicians known for their genre-bending proclivities, including 14-time Grammy®-winner Ricky Skaggs, iconic singer-songwriters Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle, blues masters The Taj Mahal Trio, legendary drummer Jack DeJohnette featuring Ravi Coltrane and Matt Garrison, label-defying vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, and groundbreaking bands Greensky Bluegrass, Railroad Earth and ChessBoxer. Many of these artists have collaborated with, performed with or opened for Bruce Hornsby over his 30-plus-year career, and Hornsby will perform each day of the festival.

“We’re pleased to be able to offer this lineup of great artists from across a broad spectrum of American music, for the most part a group of old friends and musical cohorts from the thirty years since the release of our first record,” said Hornsby. “And we’re also happy to be able to present it in my hometown – hell, I can walk to the gig every day!”

Bruce R. Hornsby was born and raised in Williamsburg, Virginia. Growing up in a musical family, Hornsby often played in local clubs and hotel bars. More than a decade after bursting onto the scene with The Way It Is, the Hornsby family returned and settled in Williamsburg.

Funhouse Fest, on the lawn of the Arts Museum of Colonial Williamsburg, will provide three days of great music for Hornsby’s family, friends and fans who are always excited when Bruce returns to perform for a hometown crowd.

“I’d like to thank Rob Cross and the Virginia Arts Festival for reaching out to us with the idea to collaborate on what has now become the Funhouse Fest,” said Bruce Hornsby, co-presenter of the Funhouse Festival. “We’ve mulled the “festival” idea for three or four years now; our idea was to do it in Asheville, NC, one of our favorite places to play. But we never acted on it until Rob Cross got out the cattle prod and moved us in the right direction.”

Every year for each of its 20 seasons, Virginia Arts Festival has presented a weekend-long mini-festival of performances in Williamsburg. The Funhouse Festival is the first curated, themed three-day music festival to be presented as part of this tradition.

“I can’t imagine a better way to wrap up Virginia Arts Festival 20^th season celebration than a three-day jam with Bruce and the amazing lineup of artists he has invited to our Funhouse Fest,” said Virginia Arts Festival Perry Artistic Director Robert Cross. “It’s a dream come true.”

About Bruce Hornsby

Bruce Hornsby’s work displays a creative iconoclasm that’s been a constant in the artist’s two-and-a-half decade recording career. His commercial stock soared early on, when “The Way It Is”–the title track of his 1986 debut album–became one of the most popular songs on American radio. Despite his early mainstream successes, Hornsby has pursued a more personal, idiosyncratic musical path, focusing on projects that sparked his creative interest, including collaborations with the Grateful Dead, Spike Lee, Ricky Skaggs, Don Henley, Ornette Coleman, Bob Dylan, Bela Fleck, Bonnie Raitt, Pat Metheny, and Robbie Robertson. Hornsby’s performances will offer a glimpse of a restless spirit who continues to push forward into exciting new musical terrain.

About the Funhouse Festival

 The Funhouse Festival begins Friday, June 24, with an evening inspired by bluegrass and its creative progeny, with the prolific, innovative bluegrass master Ricky Skaggs and

Bruce Hornsby with Kentucky Thunder for jams including songs from their thrilling live album, Cluck Ol’ Hen and their eponymous debut.

On Saturday, June 25, performances begin at 4pm and carry on into the night, including sessions by Colvin & Earle featuring singer-songwriters Shawn Colvin and Steve Earle. The evening ends with a surefire pleaser for Hornsby fans, as he joins The Noisemakers to perform their upcoming album, Rehab Reunion, to be released June 17^th and the album that won his first Grammy, The Way It Is, in their entirety.

Sunday, June 26, performances begin at 3pm with ChessBoxer and continue with singer Aoife O’Donovan, blues legends The Taj Mahal Trio, and a concert by Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers.

Three-day Funhouse Festival passes are on sale March 4th, online at www.FunhouseFest.com, by phone at 757-282-2822, or in person at the Virginia Arts Festival Box Office at 440 Bank St., Norfolk, VA.

The festival kicks off with An Evening with Bruce Hornsby (solo) on Thursday, June 23 at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, 8pm. The proceeds from this intimate solo performance benefit Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, and Virginia Arts Festival’s educational outreach program. A limited number of tickets are available for $25 – $35 with purchase of 3-day festival pass.

Hotel packages are available through Colonial Williamsburg by calling (855) 308-1259 or visiting www.colonialwilliamsburg.com.

Festival Williamsburg and Funhouse Fest are co-presented with the City of Williamsburg and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Support is provided by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance and funded in part by the

Area Arts Commission, the City of Williamsburg and James City County.

FUNHOUSE FESTIVAL

Presented by Bruce Hornsby and Virginia Arts Festival

Thursday, June 23

8:00pm Bruce Hornsby

 

Friday, June 24

Gates open at 6:00pm

Performances begin at 7:15pm

 

Saturday, June 25

Gates open at 1:00pm

Performances begin at 4:00pm

 

Sunday, June 26

Gates open at 1:00pm

Performances begin at 3:00pm

 

3-DAY FESTIVAL PASSES ON SALE MARCH 4

Gold Premium $599: includes Gold A pass ($297.75) plus early entry, premium parking, VIP Tent access, meet and greet opportunities, VIP restrooms and souvenir.

Tent Gold Circle: Reserved Seating   $297.75

Tent Pit: General Admission               $141.75

Tent Front: Reserved Seating               $213.75

Tent Rear: Reserved Seating               $156.75

Lawn: General Admission                     $99.75

 

Elite Experience Packages:

 

Tent Gold Circle Premium                  $599.00

     Gold Circle Reserved Seating, premium parking, VIP Tent access (specialty food

       and beverage sales), VIP restrooms, souvenir gift, artist meet & greet

       opportunities (as available)

 

Tent Gold Circle VIP                           $449.00

   Gold Circle Reserved Seating, premium parking, VIP tent access (specialty food  

   and beverage sales), VIP restrooms

 

Limited Single Day tickets, available in late April

The festival kicks off with An Evening with Bruce Hornsby (solo) on Thursday, June 23 at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, 8pm. The proceeds from this intimate solo performance benefit Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, and Virginia Arts Festival’s educational outreach program. A limited number of tickets are available for $25 – $35 with purchase of 3-day festival pass.

Three-day Funhouse Festival passes are on sale March 4th, online at www.FunhouseFest.com, by phone at 757-282-2822, or in person at the Virginia Arts Festival Box Office at 440 Bank St., Nor