LYNN — The 10th Annual World Music Festival will highlight the city’s variety of cultures at High Rock Park on Saturday.
Sponsored by the Highlands Coalition, the free festival is a chance for Lynn residents to celebrate the many cultures of their neighbors. More than a dozen performers, family-friendly workshops, and ethnic food vendors will be on hand during the five-hour event, which begins at 1 p.m.
“Lynn as a whole is becoming much more international,” said David Gass, director of the Highlands Coalition. “We have people from 30 to 40 different countries that all speak different languages and they leave behind their country and their culture to become Americans. We need to remember what all of our families lived in for hundreds of years.”
Gass said the festival is very dance-centric this year but spoken word poets and live musical performers are also scheduled to entertain. The festival is the one time each year that immigrants and ethnic groups celebrate each other’s music, art, and food “under one tent.”
“Some of the acts are returning acts who have been doing it with us for quite some time,” said Shamarah Gibson, the clerk for Highlands Coalition. “Sometimes we try to give new artists and musicians a chance to join us and perform, too.”
With sponsor support from the Downtown Lynn Cultural District, KIPP Academy, and Beyond Walls, Gass and Gibson began planning for the festival three months ago. While the festival is free, they are asking for donations that will be used to pay for the performers.
Anyone seeking information on how to donate, contact Eileen LaBella, located at 150 Lynnway, Unit 105.
Among the family-friendly workshops will be painting, sculpting, leaf-painting, face-painting, and a portable community mural that will be displayed at Cook Street Park once it is finished.
“I think it’s important to bring different cultures from Lynn together to celebrate everyone’s musical culture and architectural culture,” said Gibson. “Our festival will highlight between five and eight different cultures.”
