PREVIEW: Full Out Fest Brings a Whole Lot of Dance and Heart to Troy
06/07 @ Riverfront Park, Troy
Photos by Zach Durocher
The Capital Region’s strongest festivals rarely begin as polished plans. They begin as a need that won’t wait. Full Out Fest emerged when a dance teacher decided her students wouldn’t lose another chance to perform. What started as a pandemic era solution has blossomed into one of Troy's most vibrant celebrations of creativity and local talent. On June 7, Full Out Fest returns to Riverfront Park, bringing together dancers, artists, and vendors for a day that founder Nadine Medina describes as overflowing with talent and heart.
"Once it happened, you just couldn't put the lid back on it," Medina spills with excitement.
The festival grew out of necessity. Like countless arts organizations in the early 2020s, Troy Dance Factory found itself navigating canceled performances, uncertain schedules, and dancers who suddenly had nowhere to showcase months of hard work. Medina faced a choice. She could continue planning indoor performances and risk another shutdown, or take the celebration outside.
The answer eventually became Full Out Fest. "We have over 100 dancers working toward this event every year," Medina explains. "I wanted something where the dancers could celebrate and the community could come together."
What emerged was much larger than a dance performance.
This year's festival features approximately 115 dancers performing pieces they've been rehearsing since February. Audiences can expect everything from hip hop to contemporary dance and vernacular jazz, and now break. Returning this year is 518 Break, showcasing the growing popularity of breakdancing in the region. "We've got breaking, we've got contemporary, we've got hip hop, we've got heels. It's really a showcase of everything we've been working on," Medina says. The performances are only part of the experience.
Throughout the evening, local musicians LACE and Shiloh the Messenger will take the stage, joined by longtime festival favorite DJ Intell Hayesfield, who serves as both MC and soundtrack curator for the event.
"I'm very excited about the musicians this year," Medina says. "When I was listening to artists who applied, I realized I just kept listening to LACE while I was working. I forgot I was even reviewing submissions."
That attention to flow and energy extends throughout the entire festival. Medina approaches the lineup almost like a composer, carefully arranging performances and artists to create an emotional journey for audiences. "My job is to make sure the flow of the show works," she says. "It's about creating an experience."
That experience unfolds against one of the region's most picturesque backdrops overlooking the Hudson River at Troy Riverfront Park, allowing audiences to enjoy the festival while surrounded by Troy's historic skyline and waterfront views.
"It's beautiful," Medina says. "Everything takes place on a stage facing the river. Hundreds of people usually show up. Even if you're just walking through the park, you can still enjoy the event."
Visitors will also find food from local favorites including La Capital Tacos, Virgo Rising, Nostalgia Bakery, and The Flour Bender, along with vendors and community organizations that help transform the evening into something larger than a performance showcase.
At its core, however, Full Out Fest remains about people. For Medina, one of the most rewarding aspects of the festival is watching the community that has formed around Troy Dance Factory come to life in public.
"The coolest thing people get out of it is seeing the community that we have," she says. "Our dancers are screaming and hooting and hollering for each other. The energy and the love and the support is honestly the coolest part of the day."
That support carries a deeper message as well.
Many of the performers are adults who continue pursuing dance long after conventional wisdom says they should have stopped. Medina rejects the notion that artistic passions have expiration dates.
"We're told as dancers that once you're 18, you're kind of done," she says. "Or if you don't go to school for dance, it's over. I wasn't willing to accept that future for myself or for the people I serve."
That philosophy may be the secret ingredient behind Full Out Fest's continued growth. While audiences come for the shows, they leave having witnessed a community celebrating creativity without limitations. "It's a show with a lot of love. And it's a show with a ton of talent." For one day on Troy's Riverfront Park, those two things become impossible to separate.
Full Out Fest takes place 6/7 at Riverfront Park in Troy. For event information and to buy tickets, visit www.fulloutfest.com.