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2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival FACT SHEET What 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival Attended by families from Baltimore, MD to Durham, NC When Saturday, December 28, 2013 • 1:00 p.m. • 9:00 p.m. Where The Hippodrome Theater 528 N. 2nd Street Richmond, Virginia 23219 Who Presented by Elegba Folklore Society, Inc. Richmond's Cultural Ambassador A Richmond-based not for profit cultural arts and education organization. With City of Richmond, Dominion, Wells Fargo, CBS 6, 97.3 WRIR Richmond Independent Radio In cooperation with Radio Communications of Virginia and the Arts & Cultural Funding Consortium Cost $6 Advance General Admission. $7, Door. $5 Students (12-18) & Seniors (65+), Advance. $6, Door. $5 Group Rates, 10 or More, Advance, Only. Free for Children Under 12. Tickets Group and Advance Sales Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center 101 E. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23219, 804/644-3900 http://www.efsinc.org At the Door Day of Show Only. No Group Sales Media Contact Janine Bell 804/644-3900 [email protected] Electronic Images Included or Available. Capital City Kwanzaa Festival 101 East Broad Street • Richmond, Virginia 23219 804/644-3900 (phone) • 644-3919 (fax) www.elegbafolkloresociety.org For Immediate R e l e a s e Contact: Janine Bell 804/644-3900 [email protected] Date: December 13, 2013 2013 CAPITAL CITY KWANZAA FESTIVAL DECEMBER 28 AT THE HIPPODROME THEATER THEMED “REMEMBERING MANDELA” Richmond, VA • Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador, presents the 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival on Saturday, December 28, 1:00 p.m. – 9:00pm new this year at The Hippodrome Theater, 528 N. 2nd Street, Richmond, Virginia. The 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival presents a carefully planned series of events that please the palette of attendees and capture the spirit and the significance of the Kwanzaa holiday. The festival’s main stage is alive with music, dance and spoken word presented to strengthen families and galvanize the community. The African Market will be open with food and shopping. There will be children's events, workshops and more in this nationally recognized, regionally attended observance of the Kwanzaa (quahn-zah) holiday. The Capital City Kwanzaa Festival is one of the largest Kwanzaa celebrations on the east coast. At 1:00pm The African Market opens. The important processional and Candle Lighting Ceremony will happen at 2:00pm. Attendees are invited to come and experience the Kwanzaa holiday right from the start! To observe this Pan-African holiday, themed this year, Remembering Mandela, the 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival pays tribute to this giant of a man, a global freedom fighter whose victory embodies the Nguzo Saba (n-GOO-zoh SAH- bah), the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. While South Africa is a continent away, the scourge of apartheid permeated the sensibilities of the generations of African people everywhere, who through this sordid history, that of enslavement, other forms of colonialism and contemporary socio-economic injustice are one in the pursuit of divine human rights. Nelson Mandela’s journey is universal to this global cause; his triumph was a triumph for all of humanity and a triumph for good. -more- 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival/333 The Nia Sessions are ongoing workshops that will also offer perspectives toward personal and community triumph: The Joyce M. Branch Healing Place – alternative approaches to health maintenance, Human Rights in the Congo – exploring global initiatives for change, Seeking Solutions for Poverty in Richmond, Homelessness in Richmond & Responsibility, Natural Hair – Own It, Love It, Live It - - and more. Watoto Kwanzaa presents, of course, Heritage Crafts For Children, a cornerstone of the Capital City Kwanzaa Festival. (Watoto means children in Kiswahili.) Festival events will occur as follows: 1:00pm The African Market Opens, filled with delicious foods plus books, unique handcrafted and imported items, art, home décor, natural body care, clothing, jewelry and more. Remains open throughout the event. 2:00pm Drum Call & Processional, Kwanzaa Candle Lighting Ceremony, Affirmation of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, the Pouring of Ancestral Libation. The lighting of candles and the ceremony will feature a call-and-response affirmation. The Elegba Folklore Society’s performance company will lead the ceremony. The Society’s performers will also offer African Dance, Music and the Oral Tradition. These dancers, drummers, and singers focus primarily on West Africa to spur an evolving understanding of the cultural and historical underpinnings of the dance and its music while showing its relationship to the United States. Further, audiences develop an appreciation for the dynamic nature and contemporary influence of this timeless art form. The company will premier a new work featuring the Manding dance and music styles Komodonou and Linbanyi Toko. The choreographer is Guinea, West Africa’s Mito Camara. 4:00pm The Nia Sessions and Watoto Kwanzaa Begin. Meet The Nia Session Leaders for an overview of each session. Included are Reiki Master, Richard C. Yates will invite attendees to The Joyce M. Branch Healing Place, Dr. Neal Holmes, Virginia State University professor of political science, Human Rights in the Congo, Lillie Estes and Duron Chavis, members of the Mayor’s Poverty Commission’s Citizen’s Advisory Board, Seeking Solutions for Poverty in Richmond, representatives of RVA Feed the City, Homelessness in Richmond & Responsibility and Anita Hill Moses, owner of B.A.D. Braids and Dreds, Inc. Natural Hair – Own It, Love It, Live It -- and more. Mangala Gih, visual artist, crafter and educator will facilitate Watoto Kwanzaa activities. The Nia Sessions will be ongoing from 4:00p.m. until 8:00 p.m. 5:00pm Dr. Runoko Rashidi Speaks. Runoko Rashidi is a historian, research specialist, writer and lecturer focusing on the African foundations of world civilizations. He is particularly drawn to the African presence in Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, and has coordinated numerous historic educational group tours worldwide. Among his publications, Dr. Rashidi is the author of Introduction to the Study of African Classical -more- 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival/444 Civilizations. He edited, along with Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, The African Presence in Early Asia, considered the most comprehensive volume on the subject yet produced. Dr. Rashidi's articles have appeared in more than seventy-five publications. His essays have been featured in the Journal of Civilizations Anthologies and cover the global African presence. After lecturing in more than 50 countries, his topic for the 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival is The Global African Presence: African Contributions to the World. He says, "History is a light that illuminates the past and a key that unlocks the door to the future." 6:30pm Jarrard Anthony. A song writer, a keyboardist, a guitarist and vocalist, Jarrard Anthony was recognized as a prodigy when impersonating Chuck Berry at age three. Others agreed, and as he matured this Richmond-based artist prevailed as an Apollo Amateur Night winner. Anthony went on to write for artists like Howard Hewitt, Franklin Roberts, Bobby Lyle and Tonia Woods and to do studio work with Levi Little of Blackstreet, Tim Dillinger, CJ Lewis, and producer Joshua Thompson (Babyface, Joe), among others. His own indie EP debut, The Dream (Thermite/Stonegroove), soon followed as did a multi-week #2 spot on the UK charts. After launching his own label, JAP Music Entertainment Group, he landed a major distribution deal with Bungalo/Universal. He has been featured in VIBE, Black Beat, Blues & Soul magazines, and he has shared stages with Silk, Monica, Cam’ron, Amerie, The O’Jays, L.L. Cool J, Howard Hewitt, Lyfe Jennings, Anthony Hamilton, The Gap Band and Pieces of A Dream, among others—artists as varied in their musical genres and storytelling approach as Anthony was becoming in his own. Genre-hopping and hybrid-blending jazz, classic soul, urban R&B, electro- and acoustic soul, Anthony continued to produce the music that earned him a Readers’ Choice Awards nomination for Male Vocalist of the Year. He has worked closely with Lonnie Liston Smith on musical collaborations, and he will perform some of these selections along with excerpts from his newest release, Ready to Live. 8:00pm Formed in 1980, Truth and Rights Reggae Band is a socially conscious ensemble that has been entertaining a wide range of audiences for more than 30 years. Known for its political and social message of love, hope and unity, the group has shared the stage with Bob Marley & The Wailers, Third World and Black Uhuru. 9:00 p.m. Festival Closes. Advance tickets for the 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival are $6, general admission, $5 for students, 12 - 18 and $5 for seniors, 65 +. At the door tickets are $7, general admission, $6 for students, 12 - 18 and $6 for seniors, 65 +. Tickets for groups (at least 10 persons) are $5. Group tickets must be purchased in advance only. Advance tickets can be purchased online at http://www.efsinc.org or at the Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 East Broad Street. Admission is free for children under 12. -more- 2013 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival/555 Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond's Cultural Ambassador, presents the Capital City Kwanzaa Festival. The Society is a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization that offers services in cultural arts programming and communications. These include planning and managing special events and programs, organizing exhibitions of art and artifacts, presenting programs in dance theatre and music and guiding cultural history tours. Elegba is an Orisa (ohr-REE-shah) or deity from the Yoruba tradition of West Africa who opens the roads. The Elegba Folklore Society hopes this event and each of its programs are road-opening experiences for its audiences. Elegba Folklore Society thanks its program partners including the City of Richmond, Dominion, Wells Fargo, CBS 6 and 97.3 WRIR Independent Radio.