The One Village Festival and Pub Crawl will take place on Saturday, September 24 in downtown Tulsa's Blue Dome District.
Business owners in the District are teaming up with local musicians, artists, poets, dance troupes, and fair trade and fresh produce merchants in this fundraiser benefiting poor women and their families in Africa's Democratic Republic of Congo.
The daytime festival, which goes from noon until 6 pm will include children's activities, poetry readings, sale of arts, crafts, fresh produce and international fair trade items. Entertainment will be provided by local dance troupes representing a wide range of ethnic styles from many cultures.
The Pub Crawl will take place at Arnie's, 1974, Route 66 Roadhouse,Tsunami's and McNellie's beginning at 9 pm.
Tickets will be available for purchase either in advance for $10 at Arnie's, Groovy Threads or on the event's website, http://www.one-village-festival.com/ (coming soon). On the day of the event, ticket price goes up $13.00. The tickets provide access into each of the five venues for the evening. Patrons can also pay a single cover at the venue.
Proceeds from the One Village benefit will go to FINCA, a U.S. non-profit institution that since 1984 has served nearly 1 million families through 20,000 village banks in 23 countries on 4 continents. Organizers hope to raise the minimum of $5,000 needed to establish a new Congolese village bank,otherwise known as a micro-credit lending institution.
With the economic collapse and loss of life resulting from years of civil war, many Congolese women have been widowed and are unable to provide even a meager income to feed and house their families. A village bank can be a godsend for these women by providing them with loans of $50 to $500 without collateral and at interest rates that they can afford.
Performing bands so far include: Larkin, Cairde Na Gael, Tom Skinner's Science Project, Harmonious Monk, Local Hero, Sam and the Stylees, Rewake and Full Flava Kings. Because the bands are donating their talents free of charge, all proceeds will go to FINCA.
Nancy Moran, who helped organize the All-Tulsa Tsunami Hope and Healing Benefit Concert at the Cain's Ballroom earlier this year, saw the hearts of Tulsans open for people in south east Asia after the natural disaster there. Moran believes that they are still open but that sometimes people just have to be nudged a bit.
The enthusiasm for this project is growing because its goal makes sense to people, you can give a hungry person a loaf of bread to eat or you can give him or her the means to bake more. That's what village banks do.The One Village organizers hope to make the fundraiser an annual one and will choose a different country to help each year. Supporters of the event include Blue Dome Property owner Michael Sager, Toy Drum, Tulsa Peace Fellowship, RESULTS and the dance troupes Ngoma Uzuri and Desert Wind.
Vendors may contact Moran at 857-1206.
The One Village Festival
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