Come join the Selebrasyon! May 18 through June 30, 2014 and experience Haitian arts and culture at its finest! Brought to the area by the Haiti Cultural Exchange (HCX), a non-profit agency in Brooklyn founded to develop, present, and promote the cultural expressions of the Haitian people, Selebrasyon! is New York’s first ever large-scale festival that will celebrate Haitian arts and culture.
As part of Haitian Heritage Month, the 6-week event will start Saturday, May 17, with an opening night at the FiveMyles Gallery with featured performances by Brown Rice Family and Poet Michèle Voltaire Marcelin, an art installation unveiling by Engels, a culinary demonstration and hors d’oeuvres, exclusive raffle prizes, and more. Then, festivities explode in color and music on Haitian Flag Day at Parkside and Ocean Avenues with a wide array of food, crafts, live music, and dance workshops.
The following weeks will bring many events to the local area, including:
- Open studio tours
- Performance by Grammy-nominated band Boukman Eksperyans
- U.S. Premiere screening of La Rèn Solèy, a film by Frantz Voltaire and Nitze Mathelier
- Night of spoken word where writers, poets, and artists come together to share Haitian stories and poems about their New York Haitian-American experiences
- Special tasting menu with La Caye Restaurant’s new Executive Chef Pierre Fervil
- Free family program with storytelling led by Haitian authors, performers, and musicians
- No Passport Party featuring Afrobeat and world sound fusion DJs Sabine Blaizin and Gardy Girault
- and much, much more!
Experience all the color of the dynamic Haitian culture and join the fun while supporting Haitian artists and performers! Everyone is encouraged to participate. For more information or to check out the calendar of events for Selebrasyon!, visit the Haiti Cultural Exchange website at http://haiticulturalx.org/selebrasyon or by contacting their Executive Director, Régine M. Roumain, at 347-565-4429; regine@haiticulturalx.org. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.