Spring into Gloucester, Massachusetts!

03-12-2014

 Natural beauty, foodie destinations and a thriving arts scene add up to celebration after a long winter

 

Gloucester, MA --- March 11, 2014 --- Across New England and beyond, it’s been a long, tough winter. The light at the end of the snowy tunnel: Spring! PR for Gloucester, the travel and tourism media outreach campaign started by local business owners and working in partnership with the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, recommends not waiting for summer to visit Gloucester’s glorious beaches, parks, restaurants and cultural venues.  Highlights of the 2014 “shoulder” season include:

 

ART

March 21, the second day of spring, marks the opening of “Pale Shadows: Cameraless Images by Pamela Ellis Hawkes,” an exhibition of cyanotypes, tintypes, and pigment prints captured without a camera, at Trident Gallery.  A showcase for the contemporary art of Cape Ann, Massachusetts, Trident is located on Main Street in the heart of downtown Gloucester.

 

FOOD

Anyone who knows Gloucester knows it is home to the freshest seafood, and that the local restaurants find innovative, delicious ways to serve it. Less well-known are the locally made edibles found in downtown shops, from Atlantic Saltworks, a fledgling North Shore-based company that produces gourmet sea salt; to the Cape Ann Olive Oil Company, whose Main Street shop sells hand-crafted olive oils, vinegars and accessories; and Turtle Alley, for incredible hand-made chocolates – among others!

 

Local farms, bakers and meal maker artisans kick off spring with a “Very Welcome Spring” indoor market from the Cape Ann Farmers Market on March 15, 9:00am-noon, downstairs at Gloucester’s historic Unitarian Universalist Church.  For more information, please visit www.capeannfarmersmarket.org.

 

NATURE

More than 400 species of birds visit or live in Essex County, Massachusetts for all or part of the year. Nearly 130 of these species have nested in the county. Walk along Gloucester beaches (before the summer crowds arrive) and through well-maintained, peaceful parks such as Ravenswood, and watch the birds return and the earth begin its bloom.

 

MUSIC

With more music venues per capita than Austin, Texas, there’s almost always live music to be found of an evening in Gloucester!  The scene attracts fans of all ages: it’s easy to find people from 21-81 in the same venue at the same time dancing to the same live band.

 

In addition to live music, Gloucester supports Broadway quality theatre: Gloucester Stage Company, founded by award-winning playwright/director/actor Israel Horovitz. The Company’s 35^th season kicks off on June 12, with Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Encompassing themes of joy and sorrow, love and loss, life and death, this compilation of Brel’s finest work celebrates the diverse complexity of the human heart.

 

ACCESSIBILITY

Located 35 miles north of Boston, on beautiful Cape Ann, Gloucester is easily reachable by car (multiple exits off of a major highway), rail (commuter rail from Boston), air (between two major airports) and sea (ferries from New England locations north and south; cruise port). Gloucester features a walkable downtown, centered on a historic Main Street and filled with museums, restaurants and cafés for every palate, boutiques and antique shops, bookstores and more. Add to this the beaches and parks within easy walking distance, and the ability to stay almost entirely out of the car – the one you may have just spent the entire week commuting in - becomes a reality.

INFORMATION

[Back to Press Releases Main]