An International Festival will be held in Maysville on Oct. 7.
According to Millicent Harding-Thomas and Carmen Gomez, from the Maysville Human Rights Commission and the Mason County Arts Commission, the festival is about bringing the community together to experience the fun, music, dance and arts of different cultures.
“The first ever Maysville International festival will bring diverse communities together to have fun and experience the music, dance, foods and arts of different cultures,” Harding-Thomas said. “The festival will also allow us to socialize and enjoy ourselves in a fun environment.”
According to Harding-Thomas, this festival will also help bring community pride and will allow people to connect with others from different backgrounds.
Gomez said this festival will also highlight all of the cultures that make up Maysville.
“This is also to bring awareness to the many cultures that bring us together in this small town of Maysville,” Gomez said. “Being so small, there are a variety of cultures here that some of us are not aware of. We interact with our neighbors without knowing this is their culture and who they are. So, we want to highlight the different cultures.”
Gomez said they are working on getting a Mariachi band to open the event.
There will be kids crafts, a puppet show, a pet parade called Collars and Cultures, Bluegrass music and Joan Brannon on the African Drums.
“Throughout the day, there will be national representatives that will have tables set up throughout downtown,” Harding-Thomas said.
“A lot of our local merchants will be staying open that day to participate in the festival,” Gomez added. “This is to bring awareness of the local shops we have located down Second Street. These tables are to bring more business into our downtown.”
According to Harding-Thomas, businesses will have cultural displays in their storefronts.
Gomez said there will be a window display contest for merchants downtown.
Harding-Thomas said there will also be passports for people to take around to each of the merchants.
“Those culture tables will hand out a stamp on the passport. The community members will turn those in for a door prize,” Harding-Thomas said.
The Passport to Maysville will end at 4 p.m. that day.
The door prizes have been donated by local merchants.
The Russell Theatre will also have a foreign film playing at 3 p.m. that day.
“We hope to have something fore everyone that day,” Harding-Thomas said. “This is a family event and we hope the children will be able to experience the different cultures through activities, games, food and music. It’s fun for everyone.”
The event will be Oct. 7 from noon to 7 p.m. on Middle Market Street.
