More than 2,000 Harvard and Radcliffe students perform and participate in the annual event, which is sponsored by the Harvard Board of Overseers and managed by the Office for the Arts at Harvard and Radcliffe.

The four-day weekend festival includes a lively parade, Saturday's Performance Fair, a dance concert and festival, a barbecue, a powwow, and Verdi's Requiem. All events take place in and around Harvard Yard and are open to the public. All events in the one-day Performance Fair are free.

"I love ARTS FIRST," said junior Marisa Echeverria, who will be performing in a production of Shakespeare's Richard III, staged by visiting director Tina Packer, founder of Shakespeare & Co.

"This is one of my favorite times during the school year. So many things happen in the arts that don't get noticed. It's exciting to have a weekend dedicated to the arts on campus," she said.

Echeverria, a Literature concentrator, is one of three students who portray the play's title character in this experimental production.

"The idea of having three different actors play him emphasizes the fact that Richard goes through three different phases during the play," she said. "This is the first time I've played a man on stage. It's definitely a challenge, but I'm enjoying it."

Senior music concentrator Eric Tipler has been participating in ARTS FIRST since his freshman year and said he appreciates the way the event showcases the many different arts activities that students engage in at Harvard.

"Like many students in the arts, I tend to get very involved in one or two things, so it's cool to see all the other things that other people are doing. It's exciting to feel part of something bigger than yourself," he said.

Tipler has conducted the Bach Society Orchestra for the past two years and will take part in two events during ARTS FIRST. At Saturday's Performance Fair, he will conduct Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, and the following afternoon he will conduct Bach's F Minor Keyboard Concerto at Mather House with junior Melinda Lee as soloist.

David Hays '52, founder of The National Theatre of the Deaf, will be honored with the 1999 Harvard Arts Medal. The medal is presented annually to a distinguished Harvard or Radcliffe alumnus/a or faculty member who has made an outstanding contribution to the arts.

During the 1998-99 academic year, the Office of the Arts is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special focus on creativity in a liberal arts education. ARTS FIRST '99 is one of the many events included in this yearlong birthday.

This year's kick-off event is a modern dance concert on Thursday, May 6, at 8 p.m. in Radcliffe's Reiman Center for the Performing Arts. The annual spring concert by Choreographers' Ink, the performing arm of the Radcliffe Dance Program, will present original works by alumni/ae dancers and choreographers.