PARKERSBURG – The Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival (MOVMCF) at the Parkersburg (WV) City Park is a free annual festival which encourages the appreciation and recognition of community diversity through entertainment, cuisine, education, and artistic expression of all cultures. It celebrates diversity with a smorgasbord of artists and performers. The goal of the MOVMCF is to highlight a variety of cultural and ethnic groups, showcasing artistic performances of traditional music and dance. The audience sits in the open air to watch the performers on a covered outdoor main stage. There is also a second Arts in Motion stage showcasing up close artist performances and demonstrations. The event features traditional and contemporary music and dance performances of varying artistic, cultural, and ethnic traditions, including Appalachia, all featured on a main stage. In addition to live performances, the festival features a variety of ethnic food vendors, traditional craft demonstrations, an International Boulevard which provides educational presentations and displays on the variety of cultures, and a special Children’s Activity Center that features arts and crafts, performances, storytelling, and educational programs designed for children.

New and returning artists are scheduled to perform at the 20th Annual Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival. The Festival begins at 6:00PM Friday, June 19th and runs through 6:00PM Sunday, June 21st at the Parkersburg City Park.

• Hung Kuen Mo Kwoon Lion Dancers and Hiuchi Taiko Drummers will kick off the festival for an Asian themed opening night on June 19th.

Belly dance troupe, The Hamer Sisters, will perform on Saturday, June 20th at 2:00 pm. Madame Gigi’s Outrageous Can Can Dancers, will perform at 4:00 and 5:30pm Saturday.

Davina and the Vagabonds will take the stage on June 20th at 6:30pm. The group’s focused, clean sound and emphasis on acoustic instruments is novel to both blues and jazz worlds, and sets the show closer to New Orleans than to Chicago.

Crowd favorite, Burning Dawn, will return this year to wow audiences on Saturday, June 20th at 8:00 pm with fire manipulation, performance art, and dance.

The Freedom Band, will fill the park with their Reggae sounds on Saturday at 8:30pm.

St. Haralambos Hellenic Greek Dancers, will perform on Sunday, June 21st, 3:00 pm highlighting the tradition of Greek dance.

Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers will bring their Old-Time, Bluegrass, Country, Jazz, Rock and 1930’s style swing music to the festival on Sunday, June 21st at 4:00 pm.

Live Arts is a modern-edge addition to this year’s festival. It will include interpretive monologues and movement as well as a visual arts display. The display booth will showcase established artists’ work from the Mid-Ohio Valley. The artists will also be set up to live paint on the final day of the event. Everyone will have the chance to collaborate and create together at the Community Canvas.

The WV Music Hall of Fame Traveling Museum will be at this year’s festival. This interactive traveling, educational and historical exhibit shares the rich history through artifacts, historical photographs and documents. Visitors go on a “musical tour” of West Virginia by “touching” a state-of-the-art, county-by-county interactive map accessing photos, bios and sound/video clips of notable musicians. Another interactive tool is the “make your own CD” recording studio.

For a full schedule of performances, go to www.movmcf.org or check out their Facebook page.