CT Arts Organizations to Participate in Make Music Day on June 21, Joining 800 Communities in 120 Countries

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A year ago, over 800 cities around the world threw citywide music celebrations on June 21. Three decades after the concept was born in France, the Make Music celebrations has spread throughout the world and is now marked in more than 120 countries.  Later this spring, it arrives in Connecticut for the first time.

Make Music Connecticut will feature an eclectic mix of over 250 free outdoor musical events, and is part of Make Music Day, a global music celebration that takes place on the summer solstice each year and brings people of all ages and skill levels together to make music.

In addition to Connecticut, more than 70 U.S. cities will collectively host thousands of Make Music performances. The event is not a concert, or series of concerts, organizers point out.  Any musician, amateur or professional, young or old, is invited to take part by signing up at MakeMusicCT.org. Registration closes on May 21, 2018.

In addition, Connecticut businesses, buildings, schools, churches, and other institutions can visit the website to offer their outdoor spaces as concert locations.  It is the world’s largest annual music event.

The event was held for the first time in North America 11 years ago.  The numbers continue to grow.  On June 21, 2017, 53 North American cities organized 4,138 free concerts at 1,179 locations.

Each Make Music city is independently organized. Often it’s a local community group, media outlet, arts presenter, government agency, or civic leader who champions the musical holiday in their hometown.

Make Music Day Connecticut is being administered in partnership with the Connecticut Office of the Arts and the following organizations: Greater Hartford Arts Council, Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition, The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Windham Arts, Stamford Downtown, Middletown Commission on the Arts, Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Fairfield Theatre Company, Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, the City of Waterbury and City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport.

The plan at the  Greater Hartford Arts Council is for “sidewalks, parks, front porches, and public spaces throughout the city” to become “stages for local musicians to perform and for all to enjoy.” Registration has opened, with  matchmaking software in place for musicians to register, create profiles and find a match for their Make Music Hartford performance.  Similar initiatives are being launched by the other participating Connecticut organizations.  Circle June 21 on the calendar!  Wherever you are in Connecticut, music won't be too far away.

Nominations Open for Annual Connecticut Book Awards

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Read a good book lately?  Written by a Connecticut author or featuring a local illustrator?  You may want to urge that their work be submitted for a 2018 Connecticut Book Award.  The annual awards returned last year after a multi-year hiatus, to solid reviews.  The Connecticut Center for the Book (CCB) at Connecticut Humanities, which sponsors the awards, is now looking to build on that momentum.

The awards are designed to recognize and honor those authors and illustrators who have created the best books in or about the State of Connecticut, and celebrate the state’s rich history of authors and illustrators.

“There was such a wonderful selection of books submitted last year in each category that it was very hard to choose” said Lisa Comstock, director of the Connecticut Center for the Book. “We are confident that submissions this year will be exceptional as well.”

Eligibility requirements for the 2018 Awards include:

  • Authors and illustrators must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three consecutive years or have been born in the state. Alternatively, the work may be substantially set in Connecticut.
  • Titles must have been published for the first time between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017, or have a copyright within 2017.
  • All submitted books must have a valid ISBN.
  • Anthologies are acceptable. Author(s) must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three consecutive years or have been born in the state. Alternatively, the works must be substantially set in Connecticut.
  • Books by deceased authors will be accepted only if the author was still living at the beginning of the eligibility year (January 1, 2017).

The deadline for submission for the 2018 Connecticut Book Awards is April 20, 2018. Finalists will be announced in September and winners announced in October. For more information, visit: http://ctcenterforthebook.org/submission-guidelines/.

Last year’s winners in each category include: Poetry: Fugitives by Danielle Pieratti; Lifetime Achievement for Literary Excellence to Gray Jacobik represented by The Banquet: New and Selected Poems; Young Readers: The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati; Nonfiction: Never Look an American in the Eye by Okey Ndibe; and in Fiction: Cajun Waltz by Robert H. Patton.  They followed in the footsteps of literary legends like Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wallace Stevens – and more recently, Connecticut-connected authors such as Annie Proulx, Suzanne Collins, Elizabeth Gilbert, Maurice Sendak and Luanne Rice.

Connecticut Humanities (CTH) is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and administers the Connecticut Center for the Book.  Established by Congress in 1977 to “stimulate public interest in books and reading,” the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress is a national force for reading and literacy promotion.

Not eligible for the 2018 Connecticut Awards are reprints of books published in another year, eBooks, and books written by staff or families of Connecticut Center for the Book, Connecticut Humanities, or members or families of the CT Book Award review committee and/or its judges.

 

WRCH, WYBC, WEBE, WCTY Are Top-Rated Stations in CT's Local Radio Markets

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The top-ranked radio stations in the Hartford-New Britain market area in November were WRCH-FM, WTIC-FM, and WHCN-FM (River 105.9), according to the latest Nielson Audiosurvey information. Grouped in a flat-footed tie for fourth are three stations:  WKSS-FM, WWYZ-FM and WZMX-FM. Public radio station WNPR-FM is next in the ratings, followed by WTIC-AM, the only AM station to break into the top ten.  The Hartford area is the 52nd largest radio market in the U.S., with a population of 1,081,300.  It is the largest radio market in Connecticut.

Twenty years ago, in 1997, the ratings were also led by WRCH (Lite 100.5), but the runner-up that year was WTIC-AM.  The two stations jockeyed for the ratings lead for the next few years, with WTIC-AM taking a short-lived lead in 2001.  By 2015, WTIC-AM had fallen to eighth, as the dominance of FM stations grew. 

In the New Haven market, the top ranked station in the most recent ratings is WYBC-FM, Yale University’s Urban Adult Contemporary station, followed by WPLR-FM, WKCI-FM, and WEZN-FM.  WYBC has led the ratings race in the nation’s #121 ranked radio market for the past two years.  The population of the New Haven market is 430,300, according to the most recent ratings.

Greater Bridgeport is the #124 ranked market, with a population of 421,100, and its top-rated station is WEBE-FM, playing an adult contemporary format.  Next in the rations are WEZN-FM, WPLR-FM and WICC-AM.

In the Stamford-Norwalk radio market, the dominance of New York based stations is apparent, after Bridgeport’s WEBE-FM, which tops the local ratings.  The two top runners-up are WCBS-AM, New York City’s all-news station, and WHTZ-FM (Z100), with a contemporary hits format.  WEZN-FM, New York sports station WFAN and Urban Adult Contemporary WBLS-FM rank next.  Stamford-Norwalk is the 148th ranked market in the Nielsen Audio reports, with a population of 323,400.

The New London market ratings are led by country station WCTY-FM, followed by WQGN-FM (Q105), WNLC-FM and WKNL-FM.  The market, ranked #178, has a population of 238,300.

According to the second-quarter 2017 Nielsen Total Audience Report, Americans spend 87 percent of their AM/FM radio listening tuning into their three favorite stations (based on the amount of time spent with each). Perhaps even more interesting is that 58 percent of all listening goes to just one station, the listener's favorite station.

Nationally, more than two-thirds of listening happens away from the home. According to the report, at least 65 percent of American adults listen to the radio away from the home between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. during weekdays. And consumption peaks at 75 percent outside of the home during the afternoon drive time, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. during the week. 

Done Deal: Upstate New York Will be Home to Northeast’s First Legoland

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The bricks have fallen into place, and Legoland will be coming to upstate New York in 2020.  Despite local opposition groups, a change in the preferred host community, and two years of uncertainty, United Kingdom-based Merlin Entertainment has announced that the third Legoland in the United States and the first in the Northeast will be built in Goshen, New York.  The site is just an hour or two from most parts of Connecticut and 60 miles north of Manhattan. There are no indications that Connecticut was ever seriously considered for the theme amusement park.  Currently, there are two operating Legoland locations in the U.S., in California and Florida. 

The $500-million amusement park and hotel are scheduled to be built on 500 acres right off Route 17 near exit 125 in Orange County, New York.  Legoland anticipates generating $283-million in taxes for Orange County over 30 years, more than 1,000 jobs at the park and 800 for construction.

In 2015, Merlin Entertainment had tried to build in a nearby community, but the plan fell through.  They next turned to Goshen, a small community with a population of just over 5,000. New York will support the project by investing $18 million, according to published reports, improving the current road infrastructure, upgrading traffic signals and building a bridge over Route 17. The project will also receive $7.1 million in grants through the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative and $8 million through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.

The timing of the announcement followed a planning board vote in October, approving an umbrella resolution for its site plan, and permits to clear and grade the land. The review process took 17 months. The proposed Legoland theme park in Goshen had cleared a major hurdle in September when the Town Board amended Goshen’s comprehensive plan to allow commercial entertainment. A year ago, the plan was in doubt due to a variety of concerns raised locally, from traffic to environment to history.

“We have spent a lot of time building relationships in the community, listening and responding to concerns, and we are looking forward to building a theme park that will enhance the community and be a tremendous neighbor,” said Merlin Entertainments Chief Executive Officer Nick Varney. “I am honored to announce Legoland New York is officially moving forward.”

Merlin Entertainments, the developer of Legoland in New York, is one of the largest entertainment company operating in Europe, operating 123 attractions in 24 countries across four continents. About 2 million visitors annually are projected for Legoland New York, with the facility to be open each year from April 1 through Halloween.

The design of the New York location will build upon parks operating in California, Florida, the United Kingdom, Germany, Malaysia, Denmark, Dubai and Japan, where the most recent Legoland debuted.

With Varied Stories to Tell, State Authors Win 2017 Connecticut Book Awards

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The Connecticut Book Awards returned from a five-year hiatus with a rousing ceremony and the selection of winners from among finalists in four categories:  Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry and Young Readers.  The competition was coordinated by Connecticut Humanities and the Connecticut Center for the Book, and the awards ceremony was held Sunday at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford. West Hartford author Okey Ndibe was awarded the 2017 Connecticut Book Award for Non-Fiction for Never Look an American in the Eye, published by Soho Press.  The Fiction winner was Robert H. Patton of Darien for Cajun Waltz, published by Thomas Dunne Books.  In the Young Readers, The Weight of Zero, written by Karen Fortunati and published by Delacorte Press, was selected. The Poetry winner was Fugitives by Danielle Pieratti, published by Lost Horse Press.

One hundred nine titles were submitted as candidates for the Book Awards between January 1 and April 19, 2017 and after review against the guidelines, one hundred titles were admitted into the judging process. Books published in 2016 were eligible for the awards.

Each category had five judges with expertise in the literary arts. They reviewed the titles over three months using criteria appropriate to the category.  Seventeen titles made it to the finalist list. Nominated authors must currently reside in Connecticut and must have lived in the state at least three successive years or have been born in the state, or the book must be substantially set in Connecticut.

In accepting the award, Ndibe, a journalist and educator, said that “literature is central to what binds us together as a community.”  Ndibe’s funny, charming, and penetrating memoir tells of his move from Nigeria to America, examines the differences between Nigerian and American etiquette and politics; recalls an incident of racial profiling just thirteen days after he arrived in the US, in which he was mistaken for a bank robber; considers American stereotypes about Africa (and vice-versa); and juxtaposes African folk tales with Wall Street.

Fortunati, who described her debut novel as a “story of hope and resilience” in accepting the award, recently completed Trinity College’s master’s program in American Studies.  She recalled that as part of her studies, she visited the Mark Twain House & Museum, which made the ceremony location especially fitting.

The book’s subject is mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, and “it explores the shame, stigma and anxiety that often complicate the management of this chronic condition,” Fortunati explains on her website.  “The issue is personal to me having witnessed the impact of depression and bipolar disorder in relatives and friends.  My goal was to write a story of hope for teens who struggle with mental illness.”

Pieratti, who teaches English at South Windsor High School, relocated to Connecticut from upstate New York five years ago.  She said “I have been nurtured by this state since I moved here,” and expressed appreciation to her colleagues in South Windsor.  She has taught at the college and high school level, and was recipient of the Idaho prize for Poetry in 2015.  Her poetry “explores the mundane moments and materials that make up ordinary days and finds there the ambiguities of mystery, shadow, and song,” the CT Center for the Book indicated.

Cajun Waltz, the Fiction winner by Robert H. Patton, is set in southwest Louisiana, a "tale of family, music, love, and picturesque mayhem" that explores “three generations of the volatile clan” as they “grapple with the region’s economic struggles and racial tensions.”

In addition to the award recipients, Gray Jacobik, University Professor Emerita at Eastern Connecticut State University, received Lifetime Achievement recognition in Poetry.

The awards were presented annually between 2002 and 2011, and were re-established by CT Humanities this year.  The nominated books for the 2017 Connecticut Book Awards, by category:

Fiction

  • Back Lash by Chris Knopf
  • I’ll Take You There by Wally Lamb
  • Shadows of Paris by Eric D. Lehman
  • Cajun Waltz by Robert H. Patton
  • Beneath a Shooting Star by Susan Harrison Rashid

Non-Fiction

  • Rare Light by Anne Dawson
  • Never Look an American in the Eye by Okey Ndibe
  • The Lost White Tribe by Michael Robinson

Poetry

  • The Banquet by Gray Jacobik
  • Barrel Children by Rayon Lennon
  • The Meeting House by Marilyn Nelson
  • Fugitives by Danielle Pieratti

Young Readers

  • All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor
  • The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati
  • Ada’s Violin by Susan Hood
  • The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
  • Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel! by Paul Meisel

 

Images above (L to R): Okey Ndibe, Karen Fortunati, Danielle Pieratti, Robert H. Patton

Unhealthy Food Marketing Targets Hispanic Youth, UConn Researchers Find

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Hispanic children and youth, particularly youth in Spanish-speaking households, visited food/beverage websites at higher rates than their non-Hispanic counterparts, despite fewer visits to the Internet overall, according to a research study published by University of Connecticut faculty members. “The frequency with which youth in Spanish-speaking households visited popular food and beverage websites compared with primarily English-speaking Hispanic youth raises further concerns due to the potential for these sites to reinforce preferences for an ‘‘American’’ diet among less acculturated youth, which could contribute to Hispanic youth’s worsening diet with greater acculturation,” Maia Hyary and Jennifer Harris point out in the inaugural issue of the journal Health Equity, published in September.

They stress that “Further research is needed to understand why Hispanic youth disproportionately visit food/beverage websites to help inform potential actions to reduce their exposure to unhealthy food marketing.”

The researchers warn that “given higher rates of obesity and diet-related diseases among Hispanic youth, food and beverage companies should not target marketing of unhealthy products to Hispanic youth online.”

Dr. Jennifer L. Harris is Director of Marketing Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and Associate Professor in Allied Health Sciences at University of Connecticut. She leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers who study food marketing to children, adolescents, and parents, and how it impacts their diets and health. Maia Hyary is a PhD student at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and a former Rudd Center Research Associate.

Food and beverage companies often target marketing for nutrient-poor products such as candy, sugary drinks, snack foods, and fast-food restaurants to Hispanic audiences, including youth, the researchers state.  They cite previous research that has documented disproportionate exposure to unhealthy food marketing by Hispanic youth in their communities and on TV, but theirs is the first examination of the phenomenon on the internet.

Sites that were relatively more popular with Hispanic youth than with non-Hispanic youth included ChuckeCheese.com, HappyMeal.com, the Lunchables website, FrostedFlakes.com, and two Spanish language websites (ComidaKraft.com and McDonald’sMeEncanta.com). Among Hispanic children (under 12 years), ChuckECheese.com, FrootLoops.com, HappyMeal.com, TacoBell.com, LuckyCharms.com, and SubwayKids.com were relatively more popular.

Health Equity is a new peer-reviewed open access journal that “meets the urgent need for authoritative information about health disparities and health equity among vulnerable populations,” according to the publication’s website, “with the goal of providing optimal outcomes and ultimately health equity for all.” The journal intends to provide coverage ranging from translational research to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of disease and illness, in order to serve as a primary resource for organizations and individuals who serve these populations at the community, state, regional, tribal, and national levels.

 

PHOTO:  Dr. Jennifer L. Harris, Maia Hyary

“Museum Day Live” Event to Include 18 Connecticut Museums

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Eighteen Connecticut museums in twelve communities will be participating in Museum Day Live! On September 23, offering free admission in a national initiative led by Smithsonian magazine and supported by Microsoft, to increase awareness of the assets that museums have to offer residents throughout the country. Museum Day Live! is described as “an annual celebration of boundless curiosity.” Participating museums and cultural institutions across the country provide entry to anyone presenting a Museum Day Live! ticket. Individuals can get tickets on-line to any of the participating museums, simply by indicating the museum they intend to visit.  A ticket specific to that museum is then downloaded, and recipients can either print the ticket or show it on their smart phones in many of the museums.

To get free admission, guests must present an official Museum Day Live! Ticket, which provides general admission for the ticketholder plus one guest.  It is not valid for special exhibits, parking, IMAX film screening or any other offer.

Across the country, there are nearly 1200 participating museums, including 457 museums in the Northeast, 188 across the South, 402 in the Mid-West and 136 in the Western U.S.

Participating museums in Connecticut include:

BRISTOL

DANBURY

Danbury Museum and Historical Society Authority

FAIRFIELD

Fairfield University Art Museum 

GREENWICH

Bruce Museum

HARTFORD

MASHANTUCKET

Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center 

NEW HAVEN

NEW LONDONCustom House Maritime Museum

RIDGEFIELD

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

TOLLAND

WEST HARTFORD

Art Museum, University of Saint Joseph 

WOODBURY

Glebe House Museum & Gertrude Jekyll Garden

 

 

Broadway Awards Point Spotlight at Connecticut Connections

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Westport native Justin Paul is having a big year.  The 2003 Staples High School graduate  added two Tony Awards this week to an Oscar won just months ago. And he is not the only Connecticut connection to the Tony Awards, announced on Sunday night. Paul won in the Best Original Score category for his work on Broadway’s “Dear Evan Hansen,” along with writing partner Benj Pasek. Before the night was out, the writers were back on the Radio City Music Hall stage to share another Tony for Best Musical for “Dear Evan Hansen.” In all, the play won six Tonys. Paul was the show's co-composer, co-lyricist and co-creator.

Rebecca Taichman won for directing "Indecent," the klezmer-scored historical drama about the Yiddish Theater that she co-created with playwright Paula Vogel. "Indecent" had its world premiere at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven in 2015. The play began as Taichman's thesis project for the Yale School of Drama in 2001. "Indecent" also won for best lighting for a play.

The 9/11-themed musical "Come From Away" won for best direction of a musical, Yale University graduate Christopher Ashley. It had a significant early reading at Goodspeed Musicals' Festival of New Artists in 2013. One of the show's producers spoke about "Come From Away" at this year's Goodspeed festival, just prior to the Broadway production opening.

Paul won an Oscar Award in February for Best Original Song during the Academy Awards for “City of Stars” from “La La Land.” At that ceremony, he thanked Westport's education and arts communities in his speech: "I was educated in public schools where arts and culture were valued and recognized and a resource," said Paul. "I am so grateful to all my teachers who taught so much and gave so much to us."  Paul shared the award for the song "City of Stars," from the film "La La Land," with fellow lyricist Benj Pasek and composer Justin Hurwitz, and Hurwitz's score from the film also won an Oscar.

Additional Connecticut connections at the Tony Awards:  the revival of "Hello, Dolly!" won awards for best revival of a musical, actress, featured actor and costumes. The show is based on a play by Thornton Wilder, who lived a large part of his life in the New Haven area. And the late August Wilson's "Jitney" won a Tony for best revival of a play. The majority of the 10 plays in Wilson's "Century Cycle" (though not "Jitney") were developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford and the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Waterbury, Hartford, Simsbury Receive National Recognition for Main Street Initiatives; Eight Local Efforts to Receive Awards

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Three Connecticut communities in the Connecticut Main Street network have achieved accreditation for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by Main Street America, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Connecticut Main Street programs that earned accreditation for their 2016 performance are Simsbury Main Street Partnership, Upper Albany Main Street (Hartford), and Main Street Waterbury.

The accreditation was announced at the 2017 Main Street Now Conference in Pittsburgh. Each year, Main Street America and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street programs, which have demonstrated exemplary commitment to historic preservation and community revitalization through the Main Street Four Point Approach.

"Connecticut's Main Street America Accredited programs, Simsbury Main Street Partnership, Upper Albany Main Street (Hartford), and Main Street Waterbury, are well-established Main Street management organizations with histories of strong and dynamic leadership. Each has developed and maintained outstanding programs that increase the economic value of their districts while improving the quality of life for area residents," said Kimberley Parsons-Whitaker, Associate Director of Connecticut Main Street Center.

"Main Street revitalization is sustainable when the professional management organization is committed to engaging local stakeholders (business and property owners, anchor institutions, local government, and local residents) in envisioning a vibrant Main Street, and developing strong partnerships that result in action-oriented steps that bring the Main Street neighborhood back to life."

Working in partnership with Main Street America, Connecticut Main Street Center evaluates each of the state's Designated Main Street Programs annually to identify those programs that meet ten performance standards. Evaluation criteria determine the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings.

The recognition doesn’t stop there.  Connecticut Main Street Center will be presenting its annual Awards of Excellence on Thursday, May 18 at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.

Among the recipients: a downtown management organization engaging the community in envisioning two underutilized parks as places that downtown residents, visitors, workers and families can mingle with artists and creatives, and a regional planning organization that created a program focused on supporting local businesses, creating jobs and filling vacant spaces in eight village.

In total, eight recipients have been selected to receive the prestigious awards, including organizations and initiatives from Bridgeport, Unionville Village in Farmington, Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, and the Northwest Corner.

Among the winning entries: a 14-acre flood control project that created a public park and mixed-use economic development in downtown Meriden; a comprehensive and complete overhaul of the City of Hartford’s zoning language and process; an interpretive wayfinding/signage program that connects Walnut Hill Park, Little Poland and Downtown New Britain; the restoration of a historic ball bearing mill on the banks of the Farmington River into a mixed-use campus in the heart of Unionville Village; a Twilight Bike Race & Street Festival that celebrates biking, food, culture and entertainment in Downtown New Haven; and the redevelopment of a 1903 factory building into 72 units of market rate housing within easy walking distance of jobs and transit in downtown Hartford.

Created in 2003 to recognize outstanding projects, individuals and community efforts to bring traditional downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts back to life, socially and economically, the Awards of Excellence are presented annually. CMSC’s mission is to be the catalyst that ignites Connecticut’s Main Streets as the cornerstone of thriving communities. CMSC is dedicated to community and economic development within the context of historic preservation, and is committed to bringing Connecticut’s commercial districts back to life socially and economically. CMSC is supported by its Founding Sponsors, the CT Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD) and Eversource Energy. CMSC is also supported by its Growth Sponsors, UIL Holdings Corp. and the State Historic Preservation Office.

 

 

Fun in CT? Ranked 37th in the US, But Among Leaders in Marinas, Fitness Centers, Money Spent on Recreation

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While Connecticut ranked 37th overall among the nation’s 50 states analyzed for their “fun” quotient, the state did have some standout rankings in specific categories – including the amount of money individual residents spend on recreation.  Despite ranking 35th overall in “entertainment & recreation” categories and 40th in “nightlife,” the state reached the top five in three sub-categories. In the analysis by the financial website WalletHub, Connecticut ranked third in the number of fitness centers per capita, at 15.7. New England neighbor Massachusetts ranked #1 with 17, and New Hampshire, New Jersey and Montana rounded out the top five in that category.

Connecticut ranked #1 in number of marinas per capita, tied with Maine and Rhode Island. Connecticut has 3.48 marinas per 100,000 residents, the data indicated. Maryland and Vermont ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

In another top five finish, Connecticut ranked fourth in Personal Expenditures on Recreation per capita, at just over $1,900. Minnesota ranked first at $2,058. The Top 5 states, in order, were Minnesota, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Overall, the “most fun states” were Nevada, South Dakota, Colorado, North Dakota, New York, Wyoming, Oregon, Louisiana, Montana, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, Florida, Vermont and California.  At the bottom of the list were Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, West Virginia and Mississippi.

The overall rankings were weighted 80-20 between Entertainment & Recreation and Nightlife.  The Entertainment & Recreation categories included restaurants, beaches, movie theaters,  national parks, arts venues, and state spending on parks and recreation. The nightlife category included average beer & wine prices, movie costs, music festivals and access to bars.

Data used to create the ranking, which included 22 separate sub-categories, were collected from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Park Service, Council for Community and Economic Research, TripAdvisor, Beachapedia, Stadium and Arena Visits, Graphiq, American Gaming Association and WalletHub research.