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Objectives:
* Enhance multi-cultural awareness through artistic expression
* Celebrate, perpetuate and preserve diverse art and culture
* Recognize common traditions
History:
The Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival was founded in 1996 by Eugene Donaway, Beatrice Corra, and a small group of citizens in Parkersburg, West Virginia, as a way to enhance multi-cultural appreciation in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly to secure funding, conduct research, and engage culturally diverse performers, concessionaires, and vendors in order to provide a free, three-day, outdoor celebration of various cultures and nationalities. The scope of the Festival planning committee has expanded over the years to include a conference on multi-cultural issues and concerns, a banquet featuring recipes from around the globe, a jazz performance event, and usually at least one other entertainment event with a multi-cultural flair. These efforts to enhance multi-cultural awareness and understanding have made a very positive impact on the quality of life in the Mid-Ohio Valley by opening lines of communication among diverse groups and providing a celebration of their diversity.
Where in West Virginia will you find Irish rock music, African drummers, German folk music, African American gospel choir, Scottish bag-pipers, Italian, Middle Eastern, and Indonesian dancers, Reggae music, and Dixie Land jazz sharing the same billing? Where can you eat Polish kielbasa, Asian puff bread, Jamaican jerk chicken, Cajun red beans & rice, barbecued ribs, Italian pizza, Chinese egg rolls, funnel cakes, cotton candy, fresh-squeezed
lemonade, and an all-American hot dog, all within footsteps of one another? The answer is, “The Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival,” at City Park in Parkersburg, West Virginia. |
Salsa Band |
The Festival celebrates diversity at this annual event and every year we have treated our com-
munity to a smorgasbord of artists and performers. More and more people take advantage of this unique opportunity to see traditional folk dance and folk song from a variety of nationalities and cultures. The event is free to the public as a community service. The goal of the MOVMCF is to highlight a variety of cultural and ethnic groups, showcasing artistic performances of traditional music and dance, not only to give the members of those communities a chance to see cultural performances that are familiar, but, more importantly, to feature entertainment and artists not frequently represented here. We believe that all people are enhanced by exposure to groups different from themselves and, in today’s world, appreciation and understanding are more important than ever. We were described in 2000 in the State Journal as one of West Virginia’s “55 Best Things To Do” and by the Southeast Tourism Society as one of the “Top Twenty Events in June”.
| Children’s hands-on art and craft activities from different countries, international games, and artist’s up-close performances are featured in the Children’s Activity Center. We introduce |
Kid's train ride |
over 300 children yearly to art projects such as Guatemalan worry dolls, Edelweiss hats, ulti-racial/multi-cultural paper dolls, flower pot rattles, rhythm bracelets & anklets and Chinese characters on paper fans. Area youth groups, such as the Chinese School and Girl Scouts, often sponsor activities. We believe in the importance of these activities because children are our hope to peace and understanding. |
International food concessionaires prepare delicious dishes. Native merchandise is offered for sale by various vendors. Demonstrations during the Festival often include Tai Chi, karate, drumming, and Reiki relaxation techniques. Many performers draw volunteers on stage to learn an African dance, join in dancing to high-energy salsa music or try the art of belly-dancing.
West Virginia has a small minority population and, often, artists and entertainers must be solicited from larger metropolitan areas such as Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These artists travel to West Virginia, often staying overnight, bringing friends and family with them. The Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival has increased tourism to the area and introduced West Virginia to many people who may not otherwise have visited.
Come To City Park and Take a Trip Around The World. |
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