Lincoln City March 3, 2021 — Tickets for the 2021 Festival of Illusions, the Lincoln City Cultural Center’s annual Spring Break celebration of family fun, went on sale today. To select and purchase your reserved, socially distanced seats for these in-person magic and comedy shows, head to the center’s new ArtsPeople ticketing site: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=lccc or by calling 541-994-9994.

The Lincoln City Cultural Center is proud to present the 9th Festival of Illusions, delivering weather-proof family escapades back to spring break on the Oregon coast. This year’s schedule will include live, in-person performances by stunt comic Matt Baker, Louie Foxx the One Man Side Show and festival favorite magician Jeff Evans.

This year’s COVID-safe festival activities will include creative Abracadabra Magic Art Kits, offered for easy pickup in the center’s Creative Quarantine shop, with all materials and instructions included. Also new this year: a balloon-twisting workshop on Monday and a special matinee magic show on Thursday.  All that, plus a Zoom Room visit with The Amazing Bubble Man and his ever-surprising sidekick, Jet Black Pearl. 

The LCCC’s 2021 Festival of Illusions is sponsored by the members of the Lincoln City Cultural Center and Surftides Lincoln City. The public is invited to don a mask and drop by the LCCC, located inside the historic Delake School at the corner of NE 6th St. and Hwy. 101, just a few blocks north of the D River Wayside. The center will be open from 10 am to 4 pm Thursday-Sunday, as well as 30 minutes prior to each in-person performance. During Spring Break, the center will also offer three art exhibits to see and enjoy, free and appropriate for all ages:

The Taft 7-12 Student Art Show — Self-portraits, clocks and other small projects by local high school students, on display in the Chessman Gallery

Art Quilts by Ronda Stitz — Colorful and fanciful expressions, on display in the Hallway Gallery

Handwovens by Linda Borntrager — Coats, shawls, vests and other art wearables, in the Fiber Arts Studio Gallery. The FASG also features hands-on displays of looms, wheels and other textile art equipment. 

The Festival of Illusions may look a bit different this year, but there’s plenty of fun to be had at the Cultural Center. Lincoln County is fortunate to be working in the “Low Risk” COVID-19 category, but that still means that auditorium seating will be at 50% of capacity. Performers will be distanced from the first row, on-stage volunteering will be limited, and all the doors will be opened during intermission. The wearing of masks or facial coverings will be required for all patrons. There will be no sale of concessions at this year’s festival. 

“We’ll be seating couples and family groups together, and allowing for ample space around each pod. That will allow us to seat between 75 and 100 people per show,” said center director Niki Price. “We’ve also built the schedule with some flexibility, so that if we sell out a performance, we can add another show with the same act. So if you see ‘sold out’ on the online service, don’t despair.”

The annual Festival of Illusions was the first big event that the Cultural Center was forced to cancel, at the beginning of the statewide shutdown back in March 2020. Those magic shows were rescheduled for 2021, with all existing tickets to be honored with a show of the same or greater value. Not all the performers who were booked for 2020 can come to Lincoln City in 2021, but all existing tickets will be honored or refunded. For more information, contact Niki or Judy at 541-994-9994.

The visual arts component of the Festival of Illusions — the Abra Cadabra Open Art Space — has changed as well. This year, Krista Eddy and the Creative Quarantine volunteers will be creating special magic trick art kits for families to take home and enjoy. They are planning three different tricks: “Walk Through a Piece of Paper,” “Magically Appearing Color Drawing,” and a surprise that has yet to be revealed. They will be available for pickup along with several other imaginative choices from the Creative Quarantine inventory. 

The Creative Quarantine art kit project — which has given out 5,500 kits since it was launched in March 2020 — is a program supported by donations (both supplies and funds) and the Oregon Community Foundation. In addition to art supplies and projects available at the center, Eddy also provides instructional videos online and full-page project sheets published every week in the Oregon Coast Today. 

Like the rest of Creative Quarantine art packets, these Festival of Illusions activities will be offered by donation, to anyone who wants them, while supplies last. They will be available in the self-serve shop starting on Friday, March 19. The shop will be open for regular hours (10 am -4 pm, Thursday through Sunday), one half hour before all in-person magic shows, and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call the LCCC at 541-994-9994. 

Don’t miss these talented pros, on stage at the LCCC, with shows that are appropriate for all ages:

Matt Baker is a 3-time Guinness World Record holder, was voted Seattle’s Funniest Alternative Comic and has performed his comedy stunt show in over 17 different countries (http://comedystuntshow.com).

He’s appeared on numerous television shows including The Late Late Show with James Corden, Last Comic Standing, Tosh. 0 and America’s Got Talent, where Sharon Osbourne called him “Hilarious”and Piers Morgan described him as, “hip, funny and well choreographed; the total package!” His comedy never stops even when performing stunts like catapulting vegetables, spitting ping-pong balls at volunteers or performing and catching a bowling ball on his head.

$16 adults, $14 seniors and students, $8 youth ages 5-18, free for children 0-4 (although all children who are sitting in chairs need to have their own tickets).

The visual arts component of the Festival of Illusions — the Abra Cadabra Open Art Space — has changed as well. This year, Krista Eddy and the Creative Quarantine volunteers will be creating special magic trick art kits for families to take home and enjoy. They are planning three different tricks: “Walk Through a Piece of Paper,” “Magically Appearing Color Drawing,” and a surprise that has yet to be revealed. They will be available for pickup along with several other imaginative choices from the Creative Quarantine inventory. 

The Creative Quarantine art kit project — which has given out 5,500 kits since it was launched in March 2020 — is a program supported by donations (both supplies and funds) and the Oregon Community Foundation. In addition to art supplies and projects available at the center, Eddy also provides instructional videos online and full-page project sheets published every week in the Oregon Coast Today. 

Like the rest of Creative Quarantine art packets, these Festival of Illusions activities will be offered by donation, to anyone who wants them, while supplies last. They will be available in the self-serve shop starting on Friday, March 19. The shop will be open for regular hours (10 am -4 pm, Thursday through Sunday), one half hour before all in-person magic shows, and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call the LCCC at 541-994-9994 . 

Friday, March 19

10 am to 4 pm Abra Cadabra Art Kits premiere in the CQ Art Packet Shop, 10 am 

Saturday, March 20 

10 am to 4 pm Center Galleries and Art Packet Shop Open

Sunday, March 21

10 am to 4 pm Center Galleries and Art Packet Shop Open

7 pm Opening Night performance: Stunt+Comedy with Matt Baker

Monday, March 22

2 pm Boredom Busting Balloon Class with Brett Belleque

7 pm Online Show with The Amazing Bubble Man & Jet Black Pearl

Tuesday, March 23

7 pm Evening Performance: Louie Foxx The One Man Side Show

Thursday, March 25

10 am to 4 pm Center Galleries and Art Packet Shop Open

2 pm Matinee Performance: Amazement by Jeff Evans

Friday-Sunday, March 26, 27 and 28

10 am to 4 pm Center Galleries and Art Packet Shop Open

The center and the Creative Quarantine art packet room will open 30 minutes before all performances, and by appointment. All events in person at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, 540 NE Hwy. 101 (unless otherwise indicated). Free parking. Handicapped accessible. For tickets: www.lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or 541-994-9994.