The Virtual Arts Festival will be taking place on WOODTV.com from 10AM to 9PM on June 5^th with an encore of the program on June 6^th. Over the past two months, the Festival of the Arts along with the 20 cultural organizations that make up the Grand Rapids Arts Working Group have been working together to put together the Virtual Arts Festival.

This free virtual event will highlight the Grand Rapids’ area local talent, including performing, visual, and culinary arts, along with performances from the Grand Rapids Symphony, Ebony Road Players, Grand Rapids Ballet, Opera Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, and more.

What makes this festival truly special is that the Arts Working Group of Grand Rapids has committed to making the experience of art, in all its forms, accessible and inviting for a diverse audience. This commitment to accessibility will alter what is normally experienced during a video broadcast. The elements of this new, accessible media experience will include:

1. Open Captioning in both Spanish and English (captions that are always visible)
2. American Sign Language
3. Audio Description (for a select number of videos)