The first AHA! Fall River event of the year held on April 20, 2017, held a party to celebrate the end of the 50th anniversary of the Braga Bridge. The Government Center lobby included tables with visor decorating by the Children's Museum, beach sand necklaces, a photo booth and paper sailor hats. Mass in Motion Fall River opened a Staircase Gallery exhibit of photographs of the Alfred J. Lima Quequechan River Trail, and artists exhibited their wares in Artist Alley along Old Second Street. Food trucks, popcorn vendors and others provided a variety of party food while Mr. Vinny the Bubble Guy got kids running around chasing the giant bubbles he pulled from his wand. Free performances included guitarists Lou Leeman and Anne-Marie Gazdik playing at Dunny's and Tequila Lime, as well as classical piano by Judith Conrad and the Sophisticated Swing Orchestra at the First Congregational Church. AHA! Fall River was formed in June 2013 in collaboration with the New Bedford AHA! and the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts. AHA! stands for arts, history and architecture. The organization held its first event on June 21, 2013 and has held eleven events since then. The purpose of the organization is to develop collaborative relationships in order to expand and sustain arts and cultural programming in the two cities. Click here for a nine-minute video of the event. Click here for the Herald News story. Click here for photos of the December 2016 event. For more information, contact Sandy Dennis at 508-646-3621.

(Top row, left) Katie Pascoal of the Children's Museum oversees Dominic and Reghan Gibney as they craft funny visors. (Top row, center and right) AHA! Organizer Sandy Dennis talks with photographers Lori Shaker and Geno Silvia while five-year-old Astin Sullivan gets help by AHA! volunteers with making a necklace using colored sand. (Row two) Anna and John Milkey sport party hats while Mass in Motion Fall River Coordinator Julie Kelly introduces one of the exhibiting photographers in the Staircase Gallery. (Row three)  Mr. Vinny Lovegrove, the Bubble Guy, creates giant bubbles for children to chase and pop outside of the Government Center atrium. (Row four) Artists from Mill Billy Arts and Creative Studios show their work while Cookie Landers, Sheila Branco and Irvin Medeiros dance in Artist's Ally. (Row five, left and center) Vanessa Boyce, Kirsten Thuestad and Rachel LePage talk while Crystal Souza and children Emma, Michael Tyronne and Aaralyn pose for a photo. (Row five, right) Shannon Browe and mark Summers serve food from their FanCheezical food truck. (Bottom row) Lou Leeman plays at Dunny's, the Sophisticated Swing Orchestra performs at the First Congregational Church, and Anne-Marie Gazdik plays at Tequila Lime.