CultureFest returns to downtown Oxford on Saturday, May 9 for its sixth year celebrating cultural diversity through music, dance, food, language and the arts.

Hosted by the John Chavis Historical Society, CultureFest also is a nod to the legacy of Dr. Helen Chavis Othow, the society’s founder and the person who spearheaded the very first CultureFest.

Othow’s daughter, Ajulo Othow, who also serves as the society’s treasurer, said it’s extra special to have CultureFest on Mother’s Day weekend, calling it “a celebration of my mom’s legacy and all that she taught me.”

Join the fun along Main Street and Williamsboro Street Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – admission is free – and experience sights, sounds, tastes and craftsmanship from all over the globe.

“It’s a way of celebrating the contributions of all people to our community,” Othow said on Monday’s TownTalk. “What it really is intended to do is create a space where – unfortunately we don’t have enough spaces like this – where we can all come together and appreciate each other in a way that’s really meaningful and that’s coming from a place of love. It really is about love at the end of the day.”

A few years ago, Othow said she sought the help of an event planner to help with the growing festival. This is the third year that The Cathy Anna Collective has joined forces with the John Chavis Historical Society to produce the festival.

As the event planner explained it, CultureFest grew from a parking lot event with a crowd of about 800 to a street festival with a crowd of 3,500 two years ago to 5,500 in attendance last year.

“We are really expecting more crowd this year,” Anna said. “The word is out. People have seen what we do at CultureFest, which is totally different.

The event offers a unique experience for everyone.

Among those experiences are 13 different performances throughout the day, from the 10 a.m. opening ceremony to the 5 p.m. Latin Trois band. In between, there will be Irish dancing, a karate and weapons demonstration by a former Olympian, dancing by the Haliwa Saponi tribe, reggae and steel drums, West Africa Kuumba dancers, the British Invaders and so much more.

Those in attendance last year will surely remember the Chinese dancers and their Dragon Dance.

Anna said the dragon won’t be back, but the dance group will be. And they’re bringing something “super spectacular” that you’ll surely want to see.

“There will be a ton of different performers who are going to come in and share their culture with us, which is so beautiful,” she said.

About 100 vendors will bring an array of foods representing different parts of the world, as well as artisans who will have unique handcrafted items. And since it’s Mother’s Day weekend, you can find that special something for Mom while you’re visiting CultureFest and enjoying all it has to offer.

The organizers said it’s important to try to provide something new each year to incorporate into the performances and activities that are crowd favorites.

“We want to grow it every year,” Anna said.

For her, seeing the array of different cultures represented at CultureFest brought her to a new level of understanding.

And what began as a job a few years ago quickly became her “heart project,” Anna said. She said, “Loving on people who don’t look like me – I absolutely love that. When you’re in that space and you see people learning, and enthralled at what’s happening before them, you know they’re taking it away in their hearts. That’s a special, special project.”

Othow said although CultureFest is just one day, “it is an opportunity to step away from the daily – sometimes sad, sometimes negative news – to be able to think about, learn about things that are enduring beyond the day-to-day. The language, dance, art, music – those things are universal,” she said. “They remind us of what’s really important – our humanity, the togetherness that we share, the commonalities that we share.”

Visit culturefestnc.com to see a full schedule of events for CultureFest.

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