Lift Ev'ry Voice Festival Announces Summer Lineup
 Lift Ev'ry Voice Festival co-Chairwoman Shirley Edgerton, left, Susan Wissler, executive director of The Mount, and festival co-Chairman Don Quinn Kelley. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Back for its third year, the Lift Ev'ry Voice Festival will be celebrating African-American heritage and freedom in the United States by partnering with community organizations to provide Berkshire County with a wide array of cultural events.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the end of slavery and the festival is embracing the idea of freedom for all.
"We ask all to celebrate with us from June 14th to Aug. 22nd," said Festival Steering Committee co-Chairman Don Quinn-Kelley. "Since 2010, we have believed that people can, and will, partner with each other to celebrate all Americans being free. Partnering is our way of connecting across communities in the Berkshires, and contributing to local economies at the same time."
The Berkshire Museum hosted the press conference on Tuesday to announce the events of the summer festival and share the organizer's vision for this year. It was lightly catered by Mary's Carrot Cake.
Lift Ev'ry Voice will open with a screening of "James Baldwin: The Price of a Ticket," an award-winning documentary by Karen Thorsen, who will lead discussion session afterward at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts in North Adams.
Other events throughout the summer include a jazz and BBQ night at The Mount in Lenox, a tour of Jacob's Pillow in Becket in relation to its connection with the Underground Railroad, and the "Gather-In," a family-friendly community event that also happens to be the oldest African-American celebration in the Berkshires.
Also participating in the festival for the first time this year will be Project eLEVate, which showcases youth artwork throughout the summer with a certificate ceremony at the close of the festival.
As Quinn-Kelley outlined, "our 2015 festival includes [events such as] community parties, dance, theater, film, jazz, humanities seminars, poetry slams, and community outreach through social action."
Because of the anniversary of the United States' 13th Amendment abolishing slavery this year, the Lift Ev'ry Voice committee members are also focusing on the connection between freedom and faith, offering an "ecumenical celebration" during the course of the festival. Local faith programs are encouraged to sponsor "a sermon or a service, a program or a vigil, a psalm-fest or a concert, a youth activity or a senior luncheon, a day of service, a family outing ... [events] that integrate the theme of faith and freedom" on both a personal and a societal level.
"Freedom is more than the opposition and abolishment of slavery," said Quinn-Kelley. "Freedom is a birthright, a gift of life, the platform on which we build our hopes and our dreams. Faith is one avenue to realizing hopes and dreams, one path to building a just and moral democratic society of equals."
The inaugural Lift Ev'ry Voice Festival in 2011 was attended by more than 30,000 people, and Steering Committee members as well as festival partners and supporters are confident that this year will exceed those numbers.
For a complete list of events and dates, visit www.liftevryvoicefestival.org or email partner@liftevryvoice.org for information about volunteering for and supporting this year's festival or joining the mailing list for up-to-date news.
"Social action, for us, is not a political agenda," said Quinn-Kelley, "but a belief that communities across [Berkshire] County can make a difference and enhance each of our lives."
Tags: festival, heritage, historical,
