Music Festival to Celebrate Cincinnati's Diversity

‘CELEBRATE AS ONE’ FEATURES LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL BANDS, FOOD BOOTHS AND ATMOSPHERE PERFORMANCES

April 2, 2008 (Cincinnati, OH) - The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati announced today a major multicultural music festival to take place next month to celebrate Cincinnati’s cultural and ethnic diversity.  Inspired by the anniversary of Israel’s 60th year of Independence, the concert will occur on Thursday, May 8 in Fountain Square from 4:30 – 10:00 p.m., the actual date of the establishment of the State of Israel. Admission to the concert is free.

The music festival, named “Celebrate As One,” will feature performances by local bands representing a diverse range of ethnicities.  Scheduled to appear are Acarya, Baoku and the Image, Chinese Lion Dancers, Elderwood Quintet, Gaiananda Music and Dance Ensemble, Kai Kweol and Drum Jam Parade, Mohenjo Daro, Poco Loco with dance lessons by Kama Salsa, Sogbety Diomande’s West African Drum & Dance Company, Southern Baptist Gospel Choir, and WULF.  The music concert will also feature ethnic food booths of local restaurants, including Andy’s Mediterranean Bar and Grill, and atmosphere entertainment Dante’s Gypsy Circus and Pickled Brothers.

The headline performance will be an Israeli music group, The Idan Raichel Project. The Idan Raichel Project burst onto the Israeli music scene in 2002, changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance that resonated strongly in a region where the mews headlines are often dominated by conflict. The Idan Raichel Project has been internationally acclaimed for its modern, multicultural sound that blends voices of young and old, Ethiopian and Yemenite, in songs devoted to love and tolerance paced by electronic beats, earnestly seeking to uplift.

Hagit Limor, WCPO-TV's Emmy and national award-winning investigative reporter, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.  Hagit, whose father is a Holocaust survivor and fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, is an anchor, general assignment reporter, and now helms the award-winning I-Team.

“Celebrate As One” is presented by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati (www.jewishcincinnnati.org) in partnership with Macy’s Inc., Great American Insurance Group, and Fifth Third Bank.   Event sponsors are the Fine Arts Fund, Duke Energy, City Beat as the official print media sponsor, Toyota as the Education Sponsor, and the American Israelite as the official Jewish community print sponsor.

For more information about Celebrate As One, contact Barbara Miller at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, 513-985-1528 or bmiller@jfedcin.org.