Submitted by Bedford Embraces Diversity
Hundreds of residents and visitors of all ages are expected to assemble at the high school on Sunday (May 15) for the second annual Bedford Multicultural Festival.
The free festival begins at noon with a parade of flags, representing the community’s diverse nationalities, starting at the Town Center and continuing along Mudge Way.
Click this link to view the Bedford Multicultural Festival schedule.
The parade will culminate at the high school’s gym entrance, launching almost four hours of performances, foods, crafts and activities.
Bedford Embraces Diversity is the organizer of the Multicultural Festival. The group and its activities represent Bedford’s affirmative response to local incidents of anti-Semitism and racism.
Sunday’s festival will be replete with ethnic foods, including sales by local restaurants Flatbread (pizza), Holi (Indian) and Prince Street Cafe (cannoli). Others gastronomic cultures represented will include Armenian, Brazilian, French, Latino and West African.
Several area craftspeoples will demonstrate their talents, including Cheryl Moreau, a textile artist and teacher. She will demonstrate some steps in producing wool yarn, including carding and spinning wool on a drop spindle and on a modern spinning wheel.
Also, Angelica Ortiz of Medford, who grew up in Mexico City, will make traditional piñatas. There also will be some a presentation by Refugee Artisans of Worcester.
A variety of unique crafts will be on display and available for purchase from a dozen area vendors, ranging from Khmer pottery and Japanese toys to specialty foods and cosmetics. Refugee Artisans of Worcester will offer African woven baskets, Burmese bamboo woven baskets, and Bhutanese woven scarves.
The Organization for Medical and Psychological Assistance for Children will present jewelry, carvings and fabric from Tanzania. There will also be Indian jewelry, items made from plants, South Indian handicrafts, and Japanese traditional crafts.
Staffed information tables, including several high school student organizations, will connect visitors with programs and resources.
Major sponsors of the 2016 Multicultural Festival include the Social Responsibility Council at First Parish Church, Unitarian Universalist; Higgins Group Realtors; MITRE Corp; and Middlesex Community College. Bedford Embraces Diversity and the Bedford Multicultural Festival are supported, in part, by grants from the Bedford Cultural Council, a local agency, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and by ArtsBoston.org/MassFestivals.
For more information, see www.bedfordembracesdiversity.org.
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