A thousand reasons to celebrate

By Denise Taylor, Globe Correspondent

The magic number for the Boston College Arts Festival is 1,000. That’s how many student and faculty artists are on the program for the annual extravaganza, which opens three days of fun today at noon with Irish dance and music, and then takes off with concerts, dance performances, theater, film screenings, and comedy on the school’s Chestnut Hill campus.

Boundaries do not apply. Sounds run from early music to jazz and a guitar-fueled battle of the bands. Dance troupes globe-hop from Africa to the US hip-hop scene to Japan. Theater performances jump from a one-act festival to the Shakespeare Jukebox, in which actors perform the Bard’s best scenes on demand, to the Neil Simon musical ‘‘Sweet Charity.’’ Meanwhile, past and present BC wordsmiths will read.

Boston College Arts Festival takes place from noon to 10 p.m. today through Saturday at 140 Commonwealth Ave., Chestnut Hill. Most events are free, and held rain or shine. Full schedule at www.bc.edu/artsfestival.