The Clarkston Festival Committee is gearing up for its inaugural Clarkston Community Festival, which will be held April 26, 2014. The festival is an opportunity to showcase the special unity and collectiveness that exists in this small, very diverse community consisting of residents from more than 40 different countries. The festival will begin with a 5K Run/Walk that will benefit the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf and focus on Educating, Celebrating and Appreciating the community of Clarkston.
[button link=”http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4CA5AE2EA7FC1-clarkston” bg_color=”#451211″ window=”yes”]Volunteer at the Festival[/button]
Giwayen Mata
GIWAYEN MATA is the award-winning, dynamic, soul-stirring, all-sistah, dance, percussion, and vocal ensemble that celebrates the richness of traditional Afrika by exhibiting its exemplary art forms. The ensemble performs traditional, contemporary and original pieces that address issues pertaining to people of color, women, and the environment.
Hailing from the US, Haiti, Senegal, and Ghana, GIWAYEN MATA represents women of international origins at various stages of womanhood. Collectively, they share more than 50 years of experience in modern, jazz, ballet, contemporary, Afrikan, Afrikan-American, and Caribbean dance forms, and sign language. Their backgrounds reflect multidisciplinary experiences as dancers, percussionists, choreographers, vocalists, thespians, poets, academicians, and lyricists. As women of color GIWAYEN MATA represents the groups of people from whom the art forms originated.
Clarkston Festival Committee
The Clarkston Festival Committee was formed in 2012 in response to an expressed interest heard throughout the community for residents, neighbors, and stakeholders to come together for a common festival. Representatives from several interested groups came together to discuss the idea of working together towards this common goal.
The group began the process of organizing and gaining support in 2012 and are supported by a variety of community organizations including the City of Clarkston, CDF: A Collective Action Initiative, the K.D. Moore Community Development Center Inc., the Clarkston First Baptist Church, Georgia Piedmont Technical College, the Clarkston Community Center and a host of community residents, neighbors and stakeholders.
The festival will be held at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. It begins with a 5K Walk/Run at 8am. FREE fun-filled festival games and activities begins at 10am with Zumba, live entertainment and performances, a children zone, a soccer exhibition, 3 on 3 basketball tournament, a variety of cultural entertainment and activities for children, adults and the entire family. Food and arts and crafts vendors will be available as well as a limited number of community educational resources. For more information, contact the Clarkston Festival Committee at: clarkstoncommunityfestival@gmail.com or 678-573-5188.