How to go
What: 2013 Cityfolk Festival
When: 6-11 p.m. Friday, June 28; 1-11 p.m. Saturday, June 29 and 1-10:30 p.m. Sunday, June 30
Where: Riverscape MetroPark, downtown Dayton
Admission: $7 for adults, $3 for children ages 2-12. Weekend passes are $17 for adults and $6 for children.
Note: The festival will take place rain or shine. Pets are not allowed.
For information: www.cityfolk.org
GET A COMPLETE PREVIEW OF CITYFOLK AND FIREWORKS DISPLAYS IN FRIDAY’S ACTIVEDAYTON
To get a feel for the international town Dayton has become in recent years, you’ll want to check out the Mosaic City tent at next weekend’s Cityfolk Festival.
The popular festival takes place Friday through Sunday, June 28-30, at RiverScape in downtown Dayton and celebrates American’s rich cultural traditions through music, dance and food.
The local festival is an outgrowth of the National Folk Festival that took place here in 1996-98.
“We’re focusing on Dayton’s diversity this year,” Cityfolk’s education and outreach manager Jean Berry said.”Mosaic City symbolizes who we are as a city — that we are multi-cultural, multi-gifted, multi-generational. We felt that should all be reflected in the Cityfolk Festival, Dayton’s international summer music festival.”
As a result, you can expect some changes this year: what’s been billed in the past as the children’s family fun area and the Material Culture displays will be been combined into one area this year: look for the large Mosaic City tent at the corner of St. Clair and Monument streets.
During daytime hours, you’ll meet and interact with folks from around the world who have settled in the Gem City. At night, the tent will become a dance pavilion.
“We’ve asked these representatives to show their cultures in ways that will appeal to the five senses,” Berry explained. “So rather than a brochure on their native land, you’ll see fabrics, artwork, spices, costumes.”
Cultures represented in the tent with interactive exhibits and performances will include Rwanda and Burundi, China, India, Puerto Rico and Mexico, plus American Indian, Appalachian and African-American cultures. Also on display will be the colorful artwork created by local artist Bing Davis and the students of Hillel Academy called ‘Triptych.’
Dieudonne Nsabimana, who is with the Burundian Cultural and Educational Association, says it’s been exciting to work with people of different cultures and let them know more about Burundi.
He’ll perform with the Burundian Royal Court Drummers at 1:45 p.m. Saturday, June 29, in the Mosaic City tent.
The tent also will feature activities for the kids, and families will have the opportunity to create their own family trees and help decorate a community tree in the activities area.
Music video shows Dayton’s diversity
A new music video that reflects Dayton’s diversity will premiere in the Mosaic City tent. It’s called “Playing for Change Dayton,” and it’s part of an international music education project.
The local project came about when Mark Johnson, the founding director of Playing for Change International, was in town for a Wright State University lecture. The broad theme of his project is music for peace — one song is chosen and then sung by people all over the world via video sound mixing and the web.
Cityfolk decided to duplicate the project on a local level, Berry said. The original song, “Where There is Love” was written by Michael and Sandy Bashaw and is based on a Senegalese motif by musical artist Cheikh Lo. The Bashaws have collaborated with filmmaker David Sherman and sound engineer Tim Berger.
The song honors our own global village and was produced in partnership with Welcome Dayton, Berry said.
In addition to having the new music video shown at the festival, the Playing for Change band — which represents an array of musicians from all over Dayton — also will perform the song live under the direction of the Bashaws. For those who can’t make it to the festival, it can also be seen on the web.
Photos on display
Another aspect of the year-long Mosaic City effort is the Cityfolk Photo Show, a community-based traveling photography exhibit that focused on “the beauty of diversity as revealed in the people of Dayton.”
That project began at the Cityfolk Festival 2012 in the children’s area, with photos taken of the kids who attended. You may have seen those images as part of the large photo mosaic created by photographer Andy Snow and displayed in several outdoor venues downtown.
Photographers of all ages also were invited to submit images that would illustrate the notion of Mosaic City. You’ll see the four winners on display at the festival. They include first-place winner Jennifer Clark, second-place winner Bill Franz, third-place winner Kent McClelland and honorable mention winner Brianna Snyder.
“Mosaic City is all about Dayton pride,” Berry said.
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