"The fastest growing theatre festival in the United States."
                                - American Theatre Magazine

Since 1991, the Dell'Arte Mad River Festival has brought together performers and audience members from "around the world and down the block" for performances of theatre, music, comedy, storytelling, clown, puppetry and more.  Video

Hosted in Dell'Arte's two theatres in Blue Lake, plus other venues in the area, the MRF has presented troupes from Brazil, Russia, Europe, Canada and across the United States, as well as top solo performers from around the world. 

2009 Mad River Festival Schedule

Mad River Festival Traditions:

• Original performances by the resident Dell'Arte Company

• The Blue Lake Pageant – Join us for an-only-at-Dell'Arte spectacle as hundreds of dancers, musicians, giant puppets and masked participants take to the streets of Blue Lake in a spirit of energy and creativity that must be experienced to be believed.

• Bands Out Back – An evening of local music under the summer sky in Dell’Arte’s outdoor amphitheatre.

• Dell'Arte Cabaret– An explosion of music, madness and mayhem as performers of all ages, shapes, sizes and talents take the stage for two completely unpredictable evenings.

• Humboldt Folklife Festival – A weeklong celebration of local music and dance highlighting the tremendous number of talented performers in Humboldt County. Produced by the Humboldt Folklife Society.

• The Mad River Festival is held concurrently with the Dell'Arte Summer Workshops, allowing for a great opportunity to train and to observe some of the best physical theatre performers in the world. Check out this year's schedule  – and join us!

The Festival is funded in part through the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund Program for Exemplary Community Arts Centers, the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the Flintridge Foundation and the Theatre Communication Group/International Theatre Partnership.