Who We Are
Updated Schedule Southside Community Festival
DATE CHANGE AND UPDATE
Enjoy Food Trucks, a Dance Party, and Great Entertainment from the Richmond Symphony, Bio Ritmo, and more at the 2018 Southside Big Tent Community Festival – United By Music!
Saturday, May 19th
Southside Community Center
(6255 Old Warwick Road Richmond, VA 23224)
UPDATED – May 17, 2018 – Richmond, Virginia: Due to the weather forecast, the Friday programming for the Southside Big Tent Community Festival – United by Music will now take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at the Southside Community Center! The festival will start at noon and will include performances by: Legacy Band VA, THE BUSH LEAGUE, Salsa Guy’s Bomba y Plena, and Reina Palencia. World-renowned Latin jazz band, Bio Ritmo’s performance with the Richmond Symphony has moved to Saturday at 6:00pm in the Big Tent, followed by a Dance Party with Dj Missing and Edwin Roa! Please note that free parking and shuttle service will be available from Celebration Church and the Manchester YMCA. No festival parking will be available at the Southside Community Center.
The Festival is being organized by a group of community, non-profit and business partners with a goal of strengthening the local neighborhood and by bringing together the diverse populations on the Southside. To that end, festival partners include individuals and organizations representing diverse communities.The site for the festival was chosen at the request of the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation, to boost awareness of the facility and help build/establish programming.
As with the previous Big Tent Festivals, this event has the goal of leaving lasting benefit to the community in the form of funds for music education programs in 8th and 9th district public schools. Through the May 2017 kick-off event, Dia de la Musica, the Symphony and its partners have already provided funds to music programs in eight (8) Richmond Public Schools Elementary Schools in these districts. Each was provided $2,000 for purchase of instruments or other materials, to the discretion of teachers and administrators. Additionally, a pre-kindergarten music program was established at Summer Hill Elementary School. The Symphony is proposing that some of the proceeds raised from the 2018 Southside Festival will be used to fund a second year of the pre-k music program at Summer Hill and provide support for instrument purchase in other district elementary and middle schools, but will again seek guidance from the Southside Community, RPS and the City to make final determinations.
Event Programming
Saturday, May 19, 2018:
11:30am: First shuttle run
12pm: Performances from Richmond Public Schools, Life’s Interpretation, Latin Ballet,
Southside Dance Team, Sacred Heart Folklorico
12:30 – 2:00pm: Soccer Clinic
1:15pm: Performances from MAABC Harambee Choir and Stafford Renaissance Man
1pm – 3pm: Melanin Yoga and Wellness: kids yoga, boxing & fitness classes
2:15pm: Reina Palencia
3pm: Legacy Band
3pm – 6pm: Fitness Warrior classes
4pm: Salsa Guys Bomba y Plena
4:45pm: The Bush League
6pm: The Richmond Symphony and Bio Ritmo
7:30pm: Dance Party with DJ Missing
8pm: Last Shuttle Run
Free parking and shuttle service available from: Celebration Church and Manchester YMCA .
No festival parking available at the Southside Community Center.
For more information and to view the full list of activities and events as they are confirmed, visit:
https://www.richmondsymphony.com/community/southside-community-festival-2018-united-music/
In addition to the City of Richmond departments listed above, partners for the Southside Community Festival include: Anthem, Black Restaurant Week, Faces of Hope, Richmond Public Schools, Sacred Heart Church, TheMarcs Agency, Venue Skateboards, WBTK Poder 1380AM, The Choice 105.3FM.
The Southside Big Tent Community Festival is made possible through generous sponsorship from City of Richmond, Weinstein Properties, The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia and Bank of America and through in-kind support from the Manchester YMCA and Celebration Church.
# # #
About the Richmond Symphony (www.richmondsymphony.com):
Celebrating its 60th Anniversary Season in 2017/18, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia, and its reach extends throughout the Metro Richmond region and across the Commonwealth from its home downtown in the Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and over 260 students in the four ensembles in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra Program. Each season, more than 200,000 people enjoy its live concerts and radio broadcasts. The Richmond Symphony also provides inspirational and immersive educational programming for over 55,000 students and teachers each year. Its 40-week season (from September through June, plus an annual July 4th concert and summer concert series) includes the following series and programs under the headings of Classics, Currents and Community: Masterworks, Pops, Metro Collection, Casual Fridays, LolliPops, Rush Hour, Discovery, Come & Play, Messiah, Big Tent community festivals, and annual contracts with Richmond Ballet and Virginia Opera. The Richmond Symphony was recently named as one of 21 American orchestras selected as a leader in orchestra innovation by the League of American Orchestras through its Futures Fund Initiative. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Contacts:
Erin Frye: Marketing and PR Manager
p. 804.788.4717 ext. 121
Scott Dodson: Director of Advancement and Patron Communications
p. 804.788.4717 ext. 120