By Sophia Mastice
For HDMedia
Multifest is returning for its 36th annual celebration of Charleston’s various cultural and ethnic communities.
This year’s Multifest will be held from Aug. 6-9 at Haddad Riverfront Park in downtown Charleston.
Multifest is a multicultural festival held annually in Charleston and is sponsored by local businesses. The event, which began in 1989, is the largest multicultural festival and one of the longest-running festivals in West Virginia, according to the event website. Multifest hosts cultural performances, exhibits, educational activities, food vendors and more. The event also includes informational vendors of support services for colleges and universities and recruitment services for various employment agencies.
At the festival’s announcement in June, Tamara Eubanks, executive director of Multifest, said the event is important because “it shows that we can work together and learn from one another.”
Events schedule
Multifest has hosted many Grammy-winning entertainers in the past, and will feature various artists and events during the festival this year as well.
- Aug. 6, 3 p.m.: The event’s kickoff day will start with vendors opening at 3 p.m. and feature a multicultural parade at 5 p.m. Southern soul artist Lamar Brace will headline at 9:15 p.m., after a southern soul trail ride theme night with DJ Ill Spin.
- Aug. 7, noon: After vendors open at noon, several local female artists will perform, including Lady D. R&B singer and rapper J Holiday will headline at 8:15 p.m. Holiday is known for his 2007 singles “Bed” and “Suffocate“. R&B trio Kut Klose will also give a headline performance at 9:15 p.m.
- Aug. 8, 8 a.m.: Various community wellness day activities will begin at 8 a.m., followed by a best mac & cheese dish contest and performances from local bands. The regional headliner will be the R&B group 112 from Atlanta, performing at 9 p.m.
- Aug. 9, 12:30 p.m.: A city-wide community worship service will lead into a lineup of gospel performances, including two-time award-winning group Rizen from Nashville at 4:15 p.m. There will also be a hip-hop night, which will feature a line dancing party at 6 p.m. and performances from Stratus Band, Sugar Hill Gang and more. Fireworks will conclude the festivities at 9:40 p.m.
Beyond the celebration
In June, Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said Multifest is more than just a simple celebration, a lineup of talented artists or the best food vendors.
“It’s an opportunity to connect, to be together, to share experiences,” she said.
Goodwin continued that if the past years have taught Charleston anything, it’s that “we need to be together, we need to connect, we need to listen and learn from one another, and Multifest is the perfect opportunity to do that.”
Read more from HDMedia, here.
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