A Fun-Filled Day With Anancy Kicks Off South Florida’s Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebrations – Anancy Festival 2012, June 9, 2012

A large audience enjoyed the 4th Annual Anancy Festival held at the South Regional/Broward College Library on Saturday, June 9, 2012. The audience, of over 200 adults & children, enjoyed an extensive array of musicians, authors and performers at the event that is targeted to children.

The event featured several venues within the library: The Anancy Festival Main Stage, The Western Union Story Telling Room, The Irie Isle Jamaican Restaurant Art and Craft Room, and face painting and balloon making stations. Main Stage performances included musical numbers  by the Sierra Norwood Calvary Cultural Group,  Jamaica Folk Revue, and Julien J; a dance performance and workshop by Afua Hall; and several animated films made by Ananse.com. Storytellers included Father Easton Lee, Geoffrey Philp (who led a workshop on how to write a Caribbean folk tale), and Leanna Kelly from the charity Crayons Count, and Leon Dixon, son of Dr. Donald Dixon.

Many of the children in the audience participated in the dance workshop and the parade.

There were live simulcasts from some of the other Anancy Festival locations in Kingston, Orlando, and Washington, DC. The Florida simulcast was courtesy of Steadyimage Multimedia, Inc. and Frame by Frame Productions.

The afternoon ended with a vibrant children’s carnival parade by led by the group TNT Heritage. The gyrating sound of calypso filled the auditorium as the children danced around in their colorful costumes. Rose Kelly-Prescott the manger for the group explained the meaning of many of the costumes and the origins of carnival. The parade was a fitting ending to the day and some of the adults in the audience joined in the procession as it left the auditorium.

The Anancy festival is free to the public and co-sponsored by the Broward Libraries. Other sponsors included Western Union, Dr Donald F. Dixon Pediatrics, Dental offices of Dr. Conrad V. Hibbert, Goldson Spine Rehabilitation Centre, Irie Isle Jamaican Restaurant, Jamaica National Building Society, and Jamaicans.com.

The Anancy Festival 2012 was held in five cities from the USA to Jamaica to Kenya on Saturday, June 9th, 2012. The event took place in the following five cities: Pembroke Pine, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Washington D.C.; Nairobi, Kenya; Kingston, Jamaica. The festival was simulcast between each city giving attendees an opportunity to see performances at different locations.

The Anancy Festival, named for Anansi, the West African trickster of folklore, is a celebration of Caribbean-American culture that’s geared toward children and teens. The festival provides a unique way for youngsters to learn about their cultural heritage and experience a rich collection of stories, music and dance.

For more information about the 2012 Anancy Festival including pictures visit Anancyfestival.comor the Facebook page at http://facebook.com/anancyfestival.