Tenth Annual Holiday on the Boulevard December 5 & 6, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2009
Contact:  Viola T. Johnson
Communications/PR
Ashé Cultural Arts Center
(504) 813-9008
violatjohnson@gmail.com

Tenth Annual Holiday on the Boulevard

December 5 & 6, 2009

WHAT: Holiday on the Boulevard
WHEN: December 5, 2009 – Noon—10:00 p.m.
      December 6, 2009 – 1:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Ashé Cultural Arts Center & GoodWork Network
      1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. and 1824 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

NEW ORLEANS, LA.—For the tenth consecutive year, the Boulevard comes alive as Ashé Cultural Arts Center and GoodWork Network join with musicians, actors, merchants, and the community to create an amazingly entertaining holiday festival and marketplace in Central City New Orleans.  The festival brings together a mix of jazz, hip-hop, r&b, gospel, folk, reggae, along with theater and dance. Holiday on the Boulevard’s events will occur on Saturday, December 5, and Sunday, December 6, 2009 at Ashé which is located at 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., and at GoodWork Network, 1824 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. 

One of the highlights of the festival is when Ashé’s holiday icons, Mama YeYe & Baba Kwanzaa, meet Santa & Mrs. Claus.  Led by a brass band, the couples second line from GoodWork Network to Ashé where they are met by festival participants who join in the second line.  
Voices Not Forgotten, another feature not to be missed, spotlights the senior citizens (ages 62 to 94) from the Central City Senior Center.  These ladies and gentlemen infuse oral histories, backed by videography, into their song-and-dance routines and are known for not only packing the house, but “bringing it down” with a foot-stomping audience that always begs for more.
The festival also includes a marketplace which gives festival-goers the opportunity to purchase gifts from local merchants and artisans, and enjoy food prepared by local vendors.  
Good Work Network’s Youth Marketplace will feature youth, ages 7-21, who have participated in entrepreneurship training provided by GoodWork Network.  The training culminates with “real-world” selling on December 5, at Holiday on the Blvd.  Along with other young people, they will sell affordable food items and hand-made holiday gifts. Participating youth groups include LA Green Corps, Alpha Coffee House, Sojourner Truth Community Center, and Café Reconcile.
Festival hours and activities follow:


SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 
Ashé Cultural Arts Center – 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Noon – 10:00 p.m. – Ashé  Marketplace
Noon  Kuumba Institute Showcase
1:00p Voices Not Forgotten/Movers and Groovers (Dance)
2:00p NOCCA Vocal Ensemble
2:45p Truth Universal
3:45p Rudy Mills & the Caribbean Funk Band
4:30p Phillip Manuel
4:50p Arrival of the Brass Band & Mardi Gras Indians Second Line 
5:45p Bamboula 2000
7:00p Concert:  Krunk Clowns from Los Angeles (Admission $10)
GoodWork Network Celebration – 1824 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – GoodWork Marketplace
11:00a Esquizito
11:30a Dorice & Tanya
12:30p Red Admiral Dance Academy
12:45p India McDougle’s Dance Troupe
1:15p Creative Forces from New Orleans Science & Math High School
1:30p Positive Image Entertainment    
2:00p D1 (Hip-Hop)
2:45p The Silhouette Dance Ensemble
3:30p Joe Marcelino & The Squad
4:00p Annie Christmas (Kaia Livers)
4:30p Young Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians
4:45p Brass Band and Mardi Gras Indians Parade from
      GoodWork Network to Ashé where Baba Kwanzaa & Mama YeYe
      meet Santa & Mrs. Claus
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2009
Ashé  Cultural Arts Center – 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
1:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Ashé Marketplace
1:30p Wade Barnes Quintet (Jazz)
2:15p Rev. Lois Dejean (Gospel)
2:30p Jo “Cool” Davis (Gospel)
3:15p Lloyd Daly
4:15p Sharon Martin (Jazz) 
5:15p Amusing (Theater)
6:00p Spoken Word Allstars
6:30p Zion Trinity (Reggae)

Sponsors for this event include Ashé  Cultural Arts Center, GoodWork Network, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Oretha Castle Haley Merchants Association, Hope Community Credit Union, Crescent City Renaissance Alliance, Brown’s Dairy, Renaissance Project, Arts Council of New Orleans, City of New Orleans, Ford Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), Jazz Foundation of America.
For additional information, call Vy Johnson at (504) 813-9008.