WENATCHEE — A stage and booths of art, food, crafts, clothes, pictures and more will be set up to showcase local culture and heritage at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Culture Center (WVMCC), 127 S. Mission St., Wenatchee, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Kids at the festival will receive a passport with their picture to “travel” to each cultural booth for a sticker. Performances of music and dance will entertain throughout the day. Activities with a selection of craft projects based on arts from another culture will be set up, such as Guatamalan clay pots, Japanese lanterns and calligraphy.
After opening remarks, a Native flute song and blessing follows. Dan Nanamkin, Nespelem, will be a storyteller. The Wenatchee Hula Napuanani O’ Opalipali group will dance. Fiestas Mexicanas and Folklorico Dance perform around noon. Then, An Daire Wenatchee Irish Dancers take the stage. Wenatchee High School Mariachi will play, followed by a performance from Parque Padrinos.
The free annual event takes place on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This man once famously said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
The character of certain community leaders will be honored by the City of Wenatchee in a closing ceremony to award a winner of the Wenatchee Valley Uplift award (formerly known as the Annual Civil Rights and Social Justice Awards). NCW Equity Alliance helps the WVMCC with the awards.
Some of the finalists for the Uplift Award have been announced on Facebook: Steve Maher is the coordinator for Our Valley, Our Future; Ivon Lopez Ramirez serves as the president of Parque Padrinos; Lincoln Nere is the president of Wenatchee Pride; and Norma Gallegos is the program director at Hand in Hand Immigration Services.
WVMCC Executive Director Mariah Thornock said the Museum’s exhibit “Zoo In You” had “amazing attendance over winter break — a couple of days, 100-plus people were in.” Link Transit sponsored the last two weeks at the Museum for free admission and Molina sponsored family passes so “we got to throw open the doors,” said Thornock.
In February, the Regional Arts High School show will go up, which includes fine arts, multimedia arts, ceramics, and even metal work. The next install for a touring exhibit is called “Sorting Out Race” and comes from the Kauffman Museum in Kansas.
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