Tag Archive for: #culturefestoxfordnc

TownTalk: CultureFest Coming to Downtown Oxford May 9

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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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TownTalk: CultureFest Coming To Oxford This Weekend

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CultureFest is coming to downtown Oxford and organizers hope that all those who take part in the festivities will leave with a greater appreciation not just for diversity, but for all the things that different world cultures share in common.

“It’s back and bigger than ever,” said Ajulo Othow, one of those planning the event. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and a postponement from last fall because of an impending hurricane, the festival will resume for its second year in the Littlejohn parking lot in Oxford.

Oxford Mayor Jackie Sargent and Granville Tourism Director Angela Allen joined Othow on Monday’s TownTalk to discuss highlights of the festival, which will take place Saturday, May 13 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A variety of entertainment is scheduled each half hour, which Othow said represents cultures from around the globe. St. Cyprian’s African Drummer group kicks things off at 11 a.m., and Sergent said she plans to stick close to the stage so she can enjoy all the performers throughout the day.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn some new things…celebrate each other and learn commonalities,” Othow said. Her mother, the late Dr. Helen Othow, had the original vision for CultureFest. “I’m proud to be able to continue the work she started.”

The festival has taken on a larger community feel since it found its downtown spot, with collaborators including The John Chavis Society, the City of Oxford, Granville Tourism, Downtown Oxford Economic Development Commission, Granville Ed Foundation, Mary Potter Club, Granville Museum and NC Arts Council all contributing to the event.

“I am really proud of this particular festival,” Allen said, adding that she expects folks from outside Oxford and Granville County to come to the festival. “It’s an awesome time to invite people into Granville County,” she said, while uniting folks who already call Granville County home.

There will be food trucks, more than 20 vendors with crafts and more, as well as children’s activities and demonstrations like tortilla making and much more during the daylong festival, making it a real interactive event, Allen said.

“Many hands have gone into making this a successful celebration and a community event,” she added, and that she hopes it becomes a fixture among the city’s festivals.

 

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TownTalk: CultureFEST To Liven Up Downtown Oxford (POSTPONED UNTIL MAY 2023)

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UPDATE NOON 9-27-22:

DUE TO FORECAST WEATHER EVENTS, CULTUREFEST ORGANIZERS HAVE MADE THE “DIFFICULT DECISION TO CANCEL AND POSTPONE UNTIL NEXT MAY.”

BE SURE TO READ THE FOLLOWING UPDATED NEWS TEXT:

This Saturday’s CultureFEST in downtown Oxford has been rescheduled, thanks to the likelihood that the area will be dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Ian, now poised to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast tomorrow (Wednesday).

Two of the event organizers  – Oxford Mayor Jackie Sergent and Ajulo Othow – were on TownTalk Monday to spread the word about the event, which was going to mark its second year of being held in the parking lot at Littlejohn Street.

Sergent contacted WIZS News Tuesday morning to share the news of the postponement.

“We have made the difficult decision to cancel and postpone until next May,” Sergent said.

With weather forecasts predicting that North Carolina will be hit with heavy rains from the storm, it was a case of better safe than sorry.

ORIGINAL STORY 9-26-22:

The parking lot at Littlejohn Street will be the site for the second annual CultureFEST on Saturday, Oct. 1 in downtown Oxford.

The sights and sounds are local, to be sure, but the flair – and flavor – of the event is international, as dance groups representing the diversity of cultures are featured or all to enjoy. In addition to the dance performances, there will be food trucks and children’s activities during the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Two of the event organizers spoke Monday with John C. Rose on TownTalk. Ajulo Othow expressed appreciation to the City of Oxford and the Downtown Oxford Economic Development Corporation for their collaboration and partnership to make CultureFEST a downtown event.

“Our goal is to grow this event from year to year,” said Oxford Mayor Jackie Sergent. “We’re excited about the opportunity to bring people from a variety of backgrounds…to enjoy all the different things that culture brings to the table.”

At 11:30 a Hawaiian dance group kicks off a slew of performances that will take the stage through the course of the afternoon. “They did a wonderful job setting the tone last year,” Othow noted. A new group representing the Haliwa Saponi tribe will join this year’s event, and there will Orgullo y Alma Latina presenting traditional dances of Guerrero, Mexico, and the Carolina  Indian Arts performing dances from the Punjab region of India. The African American Dance Ensemble and the Cane Creek Cloggers also will perform.

“It’s going to be a wonderful day!” Othow said. “We’re excited about all of the different performers.”

It was Othow’s mother, the late Dr. Helen Othow, who founded the John Chavis Historical Society and it was this group that started the festival, but it was last year that CultureFEST was held in downtown Oxford for a larger audience.

“We are so grateful to the City of Oxford and the DOEDC for seeing all of the ways in which our community is on display – valuing culture, different ways of performance, dance and music.”

Folks can get a close-up view in demonstrations including tortilla making, glass blowing and the art of karate.

The Food trucks also will serve food representative of a variety of cultures – from the Soul Food of Butner’s Tru Soul to Mexican food provided by Mixed Cultures and Truly Delicious Jamaican-style food, there will be something for everyone.

The St. Cyprian’s Drummers will provide entertainment and if folks recognize some familiar faces in the bluegrass band that will accompany the Cane Creek Cloggers, they will have correctly identified Tim and Brenda Currin of Granville County.

Sergent said CultureFEST is a way to experience different cultures and to break from a natural tendency to stay in our own comfort zones. “We owe the existence of this event to Ajulo’s mom, who always wanted us to do more,” Sergent said, “pushing us to make us do (and) be more than we had been.”

Helen Othow died in January 2022 at the age of 89. There will be a special tribute to her life and legacy during Saturday’s event.

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CultureFEST Downtown Oxford on Saturday

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Downtown Oxford is the setting for Saturday’s CultureFEST, which will showcase a variety of multicultural artistic performances with a street fair vibe – food trucks, crafts and more await participants who visit Littlejohn Street between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Ajulo Othow and Oxford Mayor Jackie Sergent are among the event planners, and they talked with John C. Rose on Wednesday’s Town Talk about their hopes for the event, both in the short-term and in the long-term.

The John Chavis Historical Society has sponsored several multicultural festivals in the past few years, but Othow said new partnerships with the city of Oxford and with the Downtown Oxford Economic Development Commission have created new opportunities.

“It just felt like the best time to expand it and bring it into downtown Oxford,” she said, “making it more accessible to the entire community.” Othow said she is grateful to city leaders for making the opportunity available and being willing to partner with the Chavis historical society.

“For me, this is huge,” Sergent said. She has attended the previous multicultural festivals, and marveled at many of the performers, especially the Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble of Durham.

The dance ensemble will perform at CultureFEST, Sergent said.  But there will also be cloggers and Hawaiian dancers as well.

Whether you’re interested in Latino music or learning about the Procession of the Queen, CultureFEST has a little something for everyone.

“Too often, we’re in our own little worlds and we miss out” on experiencing food, music and dance from cultures we may not be familiar with, Sergent noted.

In addition to the Hawaiian dancers, some of the other performers include Mexican folk dancers Dance Ortiz, St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church drummers, a storyteller from Chapel Hill and more.

After the festival concludes, a number of downtown restaurants will be open and serving some unique fare not usually on the menu. “They’ll be offering something that is a little out of the ordinary for them,” Othow said. Downtown Oasis is going to have spanakopita, for example, and Tobacco Wood Brewing Co. is going to offer Caribbean-style jerk chicken.

“We’ve gotten one festival figured out,” Sergent said, referring to the Hot Sauce Contest. “Now it’s time to get another one down – to highlight the talent, tastes, music…that other cultures bring to the table.” CultureFEST will be smaller than the hot sauce festival, but it has the opportunity to grow in the future, she said.

Call 919.693.9133 for more information.

 

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