The Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts (C.O.T.A.) announces that the dates for the 30th annual jazz and arts festival are Friday, September 7, 2007 through Sunday, September 9, 2007.

Festival organizers have already begun to meet, and plans for this year’s festival are well underway. Since 1978, COTA has grown into a major jazz and cultural event, and is now attended by nearly 4,000 fans annually. COTA has always been an all-volunteer festival, and this has created its intimate spirit and the sense of community fostered by it.

At this stage of planning, the COTA Board of Directors invites those interested in participating in the festival to attend a General Meeting. Volunteers are needed to help in a variety of areas, including advertising, the COTA Information Booth, publicity, security, and stage crew, just to name a few. Festival volunteers have found participation in the festival a very rewarding experience and a good opportunity to give something back to the community. Festival planners generally meet the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm. at the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap. The first General Meeting of 2007 will be held on April 10th.

On Thursday, September 6, 2007, The Children’s Suite by Phil Woods will be presented at The Sherman Theatre in downtown Stroudsburg. On Friday, September 7, 2007, the festival officially kicks off with an opening reception at the Dutot Museum for the Musical Motif Show, a juried exhibition of artwork with a musical theme. Friday’s events continue across the street at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain with performances in jazz, classical music, dance and theater.

On Saturday, September 8, 2007 and Sunday, September 9, 2007, the festival moves outdoors to the main stage, where jazz lovers will be able to enjoy two full days of music including an eclectic mix of Bebop, Swing, Blues, Jazz Fusion, Big Band Sounds, and Dixieland. The majority of world-class musicians who perform at the festival live in the Pocono region, and the artists, artisans, and even the food vendors who participate are mostly local. At its core, this is the spirit of the festival.

The festival began in 1978 as the brainstorm of three local residents, the legendary saxophonist, Phil Woods, Rick Chamberlain, who is the principal trombonist with the New York City Ballet, and the late Ed Joubert. A few hundred music lovers came out that year to hear such jazz notables as Phil Woods, the late Al Cohn, Bill Goodwin, and Steve Gilmore, and an idea was born.

For further information regarding the festival, please call C.O.T.A. at (570) 424-2210, or visit our website at www.cotajazz.org.

The Delaware Water Gap Celebration of the Arts is presented in cooperation with the Borough of Delaware Water Gap, Castle Hill Development, Inc., the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, and the National Park Service.