More info and biographies of the headliners: http://www.tkma.org/</a

The 2012 parade will feature marchers including floats, military units, local dignitaries, media and entertainment personalities and civic, cultural and social groups. The Tucson parade has a 25-year history and provides a good time for the entire family.

The St. Patrick’s Day Festival opens at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, March 17 at El Presidio Park Plaza, 160 W. Alameda Street, with live Irish music, dancers, entertainment, a children’s game area, and food and merchandise vendors. Irish organizations, ethnic and cultural tables will be set up in the park as well. Festival Schedule TBA.

The one hour Parade will begin at 11:00 A.M. at Pennington & Stone Avenue, making its way through Downtown – around the Presidio – down Main – through the heart of Tucson.

The 2012 parade and Festival theme, “Honoring our Founders”, will pay tribute to our parade founders, celebrate their vision, and honor their dedication to the Irish and Tucson community.

Portion of Festival Proceeds to benefit the Tucson Police Officers Association.

In memory of the more than one million Irish who died in the Potato Famine 150 years ago, marchers and spectators are asked to remember the hungry of Tucson. The Community Food Bank will accept canned food donations during the Festival.

Grand Marshal was supposed to be Mike Haggerty, one of their parade founders, and former Ward 3 Councilmember. Unfortunately Mike passed away at age 81 on 3/5/12 but he will be there in spirit and memory. The Haggerty family will be riding their decorated golf cart in the parade.

I usually go to this very “green” parade & festival, which is lots of fun, even for those of us who aren’t Irish (but would like to be). Note new location of festival at El Presidio Park on Alameda next to City Hall, west of Church Ave. and not at Armory Park.

www.tucsonstpatricksday.com

Also happening that morning for joggers:

The Third Annual “Running with the Irish” will feature the “Green Isle Mile.” It will begin at the corner of Pennington and Stone at 10:55 a.m.

This is THE competition for bragging rights to the fastest mile in Tucson!

The 1 mile run through beautiful downtown Tucson serves as the kick-off to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Register on www.taggrun.com and don’t forget to wear your green!

“The New Pueblo: A Multilingual Celebration of Voice and Culture from Tucson and the Sonoran Desert”
El Presidio Park,
160 W. Alameda St., downtown Tucson
from 3 PM – 7 PM,
on Saturday, September 24th, 2011.

In answer to the global call from 100 THOUSAND POETS FOR CHANGE, “The New Pueblo: A Multilingual Celebration of Voice and Culture from Tucson and the Sonoran Desert” will hold its first annual festival of language and action at Tucson’s El Presidio Park, from 3:00PM-7:00PM, on September 24th, 2011.

As participants at one of more than 600 simultaneously scheduled events in 450 cities and 95 countries—from Egypt to Afghanistan to the Ivory Coast to Columbia—performers and audience members alike will represent Southern Arizona in the world’s largest ever poetry reading. The New Pueblo shares the 100TPFC commitment to make September 24 the first day in a critical mission to “seize and redirect the political and social dialogue of the day and turn the narrative of civilization towards peace and sustainability.”

Here’s the schedule from website: http://www.bigbridge.org/100thousandpoetsforchange/?cat=626

*Capoeira Mandinga Tucson will be conducting all-age capoeira workshops from 3:30-5:00.

*Lisa Levine and friends from the U of A MFA program in creative writing will be painting children’s faces.

*We’ll have two 30 minute open mic sessions—at 4:20 and 5:30—so audience members can add their words to those from the following line-up:

v Ben Quick ¤ Essayist, Poet, Teacher, Activist ¤ Organizer and Host ¤ Hometown: Dixon, IL ¤ ben-quick.com

v Kristen Nelson ¤ Founder and Executive Director of Casa Libre en la Solana ¤ www.kristenenelson.com

v Mike Wilson ¤ Tohono O’odham Human Rights Activist

v Lisa Bowden ¤ Co-founder and Publisher of Kore Press ¤ Kore’s GRRLS Literary Activism Project

v Aisha Sloan ¤ Essayist, Teacher, Activist ¤ Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

v Sewing the Seeds: A Women’s Writing Collective presents: Mari Herreras ¤ Rosi Andrade ¤ Geneva Escobar ¤ Elena Díaz Bjorkquist ¤ Jenny Fiero ¤ Kaitlin Meadows ¤ Wanda Poindexter

v 4:20-4:50 OPEN MIC

v Chet Phillips ¤ Essayist, Poet, Activist ¤ Cascabel Working Group Co-Chair

v Waylon Nakai Begay ¤ Dine Poet, Scholar, Activist ¤ Hometown: Shonto, AZ

v Tucson Youth Poetry Slam and YWCA’s Nuestra Voz present: Sarah Gonzales ¤ Director of Racial Justice Programs, Tucson YWCA ¤ Alexia Vasquez, Sunnyside High Alum ¤ Amy Briseno, Sunnyside High Alum ¤ Enrique Garcia, Junior at Pueblo High

v 5:30-6:00 OPEN MIC

v Lisa O’Neill ¤ Essayist, Teacher, Musician, Activist ¤ Hometown: New Orleans, LA

v Leon De La Rosa ¤ Professor of Art at the Universidad Autónoma de CIudad Juárez ¤ leondelarosa.org

v Ocotillo Poetry Slam, Tucson’s official poetry slam presents: Maya Asher ¤ Shaikh Sammed ¤ Brian Towne ¤ Mickey Randelman ¤ Melissa Della Femina.

*Every artist and performer is Tucson-based and is giving his or her time to help make this historic event a success. We believe in Tucson. Remember:

Everyone is welcome to set up non-staked tents and booths, pass out literature, sign up volunteers, collect petition signatures, grow membership and sponsor rolls, display art of every form, and conduct peaceful campaigns for any inclusive cause.

We encourage–in fact, we need–groups or individuals to provide children’s activities such as face painting, chalk art, and any language-centered expression. Activities that showcase Non-Western cultural or ethnic traditions are especially welcome.

The New Pueblo will be especially grateful to groups willing to donate and distribute bottled water and/or prepackaged food—candy, chips, etc. Buying a few bags of pre-wrapped treats from the 17th St. Market or other grocers carrying international selections of food and passing them out to festival goers is a great way to highlight the gifts of a culture.

If you wish to go further, please contact Pima County Health Department at (866) 939-PIMA (7462) or (520) 243-7770 to ensure health code compliance. If your group possesses a current permit from the PCHD and wishes to distribute unpackaged items, please contact event organizer Ben Quick at bnquick74@gmail.com or bquick@email.arizona.edu, or 520-250-0799. (Ben Quick, Department of English,Modern Languages Building,University of Arizona 85721. Ben’s Personal Webpage and Blog: ben-quick.com).

Be part of this “world’s largest-ever poetry reading”.

Toby Chivers

Event schedule to date from website, www.2ndsaturdaysdowntown.org.

Scott Avenue Stage (between Congress St. and Broadway Blvd.):

6:00pm-7:00pm: A Son y Sol (Latin American music with a twist)
7:15pm-8:30pm: Banana Gun (upbeat acoustic)
8:45pm-10:00pm: Jumper (power-pop)

Along Congress Street:

Art Car Exhibit: 10+ vehicles presented by Automorphosis
Odyssey Storytelling: Look for the StoryArts Cart on the topic – “Masks: Hidden Identities”
5:30 pm-6:15pm: 7 Pipers Band – bagpipers
7pm-9pm: Critical Stilts – Stilt walking & dancing
6pm-10pm: Living Statues, presented by Parasol Project (see photo below courtesy of Donovan Durband)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Ronstadt Transit Center @ 6th Ave & Congress Street:
5:30pm-7pm: Les Avenge – beat boy acrobatics
7:00pm-8:00pm: Desert Melodies
8:00pm-9:00pm: The Technophobes – candy folk music
9:00pm-10:00pm: Honey Pistol – folk rock/indie/acoustic
7pm-9pm: Magician John Coppin
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Indian Village Lot – Kid’s Corner! Between Stone & Scott on Congress:
West wall: Cinema La Placita screens “Alice in Wonderland” & an encore presentation of a compilation of music videos from the Tucson Film & Music Festival.
East Wall: Ultimate Electronics hosts Rock Band video competitions.

Plus art activities for the kids, an anti-gravity jumping device and more!
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Old Pueblo Garage, 27 E. Congress Street:
6pm-8pm: Blanco Cliff & John White – blues

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NW Corner – Congress St./Stone Ave:
6pm-8pm: The Missing Parts – Folk music from an undiscovered country

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

SW Corner – Congress St./Stone Ave:
7:30pm-10pm: Les Avenge – Beat boy acrobatics
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chicago Store, 130 E. Congress Street:
6pm-10pm: One Phat DJ
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

June’s Corner Store, 10 E. Broadway Blvd.
6:30pm-8pm: TBA
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Flanagan’s Celtic Corner, 222 E. Congress Street:
Annual Celtic Pumpkin and Gourd Carving Contest. Gift Certificates to Flanagan’s Celtic Corner will be awarded.

———

And over at El Presidio Park and the Jacome Library Plaza of the Joel D. Valdez Main library is Tucson Meet Yourself, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., also on Saturday! Read my blog on that annual event (click here).

Upcoming 2nd Saturdays Downtown: Saturday, November 13, 2010 and Saturday, December 11, 2010.

event flyer

“Tucson World Refugee Fest is held annually to commemorate World Refugee Day, a tribute to the remarkable determination and resilience of tens of millions of refugees uprooted by war and violence.” Go on down to El Presidio Park on Saturday, June 19, from 5 to 9 p.m. and celebrate with these newcomers to Tucson, from all over the world including Cuba, Burma, East and West Africa, Iraq. There will be performers, an international market, games for the children.

Here’s the schedule directly off of their website www.tucsonrefugeefest.com:

“Duo Libre – returns to Refugee Fest, combining the musical talent of guitarist Alejandro Ochoa de Miguel and singer-songwriter Yasel Mendoza Patterson. Formed shortly after arriving in Tucson three years ago, Duo Libre performs their original Cuban music in festivals and stages around Arizona. In 2006 Alejandro and Yasel won the Cuban Disco award for best album.

Karen Music – Roe Paw (voice) and Tu Tu (guitar) return to the stage at RefugeeFest once again to perform traditional Karen music. Roe Paw and Tu Tu are Burmese refugees who came to the United States almost three years ago from camps in Thailand.

African Choir – The Goshen Ministries Choir – Under the direction of Pastor Bigimba Ngabo, the choir will perform Christian songs in Swahili, Kirundi, French and English.

African Drumming – Experience the rhythms of East and West Africa with Martin Klabunde of The Dambe Project

Cameroon Rapper – African artist Rootman Kujah expresses his world view through hip-hop and reggae

The Finding Voices of Refugee Youth – Students from the nationally recognized voices program at Catalina High will perform a selection along with their digitial stories available all evening.

Mohammed Al Saeed – is a Palestinian refugee from Iraq who comes to the stage to perform modern Middle Eastern music on electric keyboard and drums. Music has been a life-long hobby of Mohammed; prior to coming to the United States he performed with his band in festivals and events around Iraq.

Shukuru Kalunga joins Refugee Fest to share his original African songs for guitar and voice. Shukuru came to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo three years ago. In addition to his music, Shukuru also performs poetry and wrote, directed and acted in The Unexpected, a play about refugee life.

Refugee Youth Poetry – Tucson refugees from The Owl & Panther Project share poetry

Congolese Dancers from Rincon High School

Bhutanese Dancers – Refugee women from Bhutan will dance to traditional Nepali/Hindi music.

Martin Klabunde has traveled and studied extensively for the past 18 years with traditional drum masters in East and West Africa. He is a Certified Professor for Mamady Keitas Tam Tam Mandengue International School of the Djembe and is an advanced student of a master healer from Mexico, who has taught Martin the ancient rites of Portal Drumming and Healing Ceremonies. He is the director of The Dambe Project and Kalumba (www.kalumba.org), in which he conducts community workshops and school residencies in Tucson, Arizona. This is his third year performing at Refugee Fest.

Nabil Bazel came to Tucson one year ago from Basra, Iraq. He joins us on the Refugee Fest stage to perform traditional Arabic and English songs, while accompanying himself on the table. He has been performing all of his life.

Adel Kadir, whose stage name is Adil Kalali, was born in Kerkuk, Iraq, where he graduated from a fine arts institute. Beyond poetry, his hobbies include acting and composing. Adel writes poems in five different languages– Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Turkmen, and English. Tucson has been his adopted home for one year. This is his second year performing at Refugee Fest.

Purna Adhikari began writing poetry at the age of 11. He became a well-known poet in Nepal and was invited to share his poetry around the country. He was published in magazines and books, and his lyrics were often used by Nepali singers. Come listen to some of his poems.”

I wrote about this event last year after seeing many African refugees at the Pima County Board of Supervisors’ meeting (one of my first blogs for this online Tucsoncitizen.com) — click here.

“Since 1982 Tucson has become home to almost 10,000 refugees. A refugee is any person who is unable to return to his or her own country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Each year thousands of families arrive in the United States from countries all over the world to rebuild their lives and become members of a new community. For many, Tucson has become that community.” (from their website)

Celebrate the new American tapestry. Once again, welcome refugees!

The scheduled 2010 speakers include:
–Jon Justice – Talk Radio Host
–James T. Harris — Talk Radio Host
–Stephen Kruiser — Comedian / PJTV Personality
–Stephen Green– Vodka Pundit/ PJTV Personality
–Starlee Rhoades — Goldwater Institute
–Dr. Lee Vliet — Arizonans for Health Care Freedom
–Eric Ruden — Tucson First Coalition
–Tanner Bell — Arizona Policy Institute
–Dr. Dave Mason– Radio Personality

Musical entertainment will be by Jadi Norris and band. Participants are urged to wear red “tea shirts” (available for sale on their website).

Hundreds and hundreds of tea partiers attended last year. From their website, www.tucsonteaparty.org:

“The Tucson Tea Party is a venue for people who are against the over $12 trillion dollars in government bail-outs, stimulus, loans, entitlements, and guarantees since September, 2008, to come together and find their voice. We come together to send a message to our elected officials that, if they voted for any one of these measures, they had better be prepared to collect unemployment in 2010! We believe that the government is taking America away from the ideals that have made it great. We believe in individual liberty and responsibility, a small federal government whose constitutional powers are limited, and the pursuit of happiness.

We do not believe that the government has the right to take your money in order to bail out big financial institutions, delinquent borrowers, or make it harder for you to earn your own living.

The government is spending future generations into debt slavery. If you care about your future and the future of your children, join the Tucson Tea Party.”

El Presidio Park is at 160 W. Alameda, between Tucson City Hall and the historic 1929 Pima County Courthouse.

It’s tea time!

October 2009 issue of Downtown Tucsonan

This multi-cultural, mega-event runs Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at El Presidio Park and Jacome Library Plaza. This celebration of the “richness and diversity of the living traditional arts of southern Arizona’s folk and ethnic communities” is in its _________year.*

There’s even a Get Moving Tucson 10 miler/5K race and walk on Sunday October 11, at 8 a.m.– so it’s now a fitness event as well.

New this year – a Festival Marketplace (in front of the Main Library) will feature handmade folk art demonstrations and the artists will offer their crafts for sale. What fun.

I have gone in the past and sampled Japanese, Chinese, Thai, German, Austrian, Swedish, Hawaiian, Jamaican food and watched dances/performances from those ethnic communities as well. And there’s so much more to experience every year.

*Trivia question: does anyone know which annual year is this 2009 Tucson Meet Yourself? Reply below. I know the answer, but I just wanted to challenge you readers.

The proclamation read by Chairman Richard Elias, spoke of the necessity of these refugees to flee their countries, to escape persecution and terror, and with courage and perseverance to start a new existence here. The Chairman asked Pima County residents to “welcome and embrace” these individuals, and to offer them assistance and to celebrate their diversity.

Particularly moving were two videos done by refugee children.  A young girl from Iraq compared Tucson to Baghdad, and expressed her loneliness in this new country until she met another Iraqi girl at Doolen Middle School and became friends.  A young man from Zimbabwe talked about how his country back home had changed and how he was trying to assimilate to this new culture.

Their spokesman, after receiving the proclamation, spoke eloquently of their desire to “contribute now and in the future”, poignantly reminding all listening that they were not illegal residents. He expressed their desires to just want to live peacefully in their new home and become part of our community in Tucson.

All are invited to a free celebration of World Refugee Day at El Presidio Park on Saturday June 20, from 5 to 9. p.m. Please welcome our new residents.