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Promo Video Sums Up IFF 2011
Annual International Folk Festival Returns to Wade Oval
CLEVELAND—2 May 2011—The International Services Center’s (ISC) annual International Folk Festival swirls onto University Circle’s Wade Oval Sunday, June 26, from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. with music, dance and song from around the world.
The Festival is free and open to the public, presented with the support of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland Council on World Affairs, International Community Council, Council of International Programs USA, City of Cleveland Community Relations Board, Cleveland Public Library, and WIN (Worldwide International Network)-Cleveland.
Greater Clevelanders can enjoy the richness of the city’s international flavor by savoring the artistic expressions of many cultures without leaving home. Performing artists representing a host of nationalities, including Chinese, Hungarian, Indian, Irish, Israeli, Japanese, Liberian, Polish, and Puerto Rican will share the best of their nations’ folk arts on the amphitheater stage.
The audience is invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets to the Folk Fest. Attendees will be able to enjoy the handcrafts and flavors of far-away cultures, too. Specialty foods from Cleveland’s popular "mobile restaurants" will be available for purchase as well as fair-trade goods.
Karin Wishner, Executive Director of International Services Center, invites the greater Cleveland community to attend the Folk Festival. "The International Services Center is excited to present our 22nd annual International Folk Festival at University Circle. The beautiful outdoor setting in Cleveland’s cultural center allows everyone to participate in a more interactive way. The festival is free of charge to enable everyone to share in the celebration of Cleveland’s cultural diversity."
Additional organizations supporting the Folk Festival include the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, International Community Council, Council of International Programs USA, the City of Cleveland Community Relations Board, Cleveland Public Library, Nordson Corporation, Forest City Enterprises, Margaret W. Wong & Associates, and Consolidated Graphics Group.
Wade Oval is located in the heart of University Circle, at East Boulevard, north of Euclid Avenue.
For more information about the International Folk Festival or International Services Center, call 216.781.4560.
Sponsorships for the 2011 International Folk Festival are need. For sponsor levels and rates, and to order secure your sponsorship, please contact us before June 15, 2011. Download the Corporate Sponsorship Form.
2011 Program Book Advertising space for companies, organizations, and individuals is available in the 2011 IFF Program Book. For ad sizes and rates, and to order your ad before June 14, 2011, download the Program Book Advertising Form.
News release PDF file. Contact: Mary Ann Kovach, 216,283.4061 or 216.789.4826. Email: makinshaker@gmail.com
Planning Started for 2011 IFF
Cleveland (January 11, 2011) -- Planning has begun for the 2011 International Folk Festival. Following up on last year's successful change of venue, moving the IFF outdoors, the 2011 International Folk Festival is returning to Wade Oval in University Circle for this year's event. Ken Kovacs, of the International Services Center, which sponsors the Folk Festival, is working with volunteers currently to set the details of the event this summer, scheduled for Sunday June 26, 2011. Sponsors are being sought, as are food vendors. Performing groups can contact Ken Kovacs to submit their interest in participating.
2010 News
ClevelandPeople Coverage of the
International Folk Festival 2010
Get a detailed look at the 2010 International Folk Festival, in words, pictures and videos, brought to you by Cleveland People, the website that covers all of the nationality and ethnic news in the Cleveland area.
Updated: 7/16/2010
7:28:49 PM Posted: 7/16/2010 12:55:55 PM CLEVELAND -- A 21-year Cleveland tradition moves outdoors Sunday, as the International Folk Festival takes place at Wade Oval in University Circle. It is free and open to the public.
"Here in Northeast Ohio, we have over 117 identifiable ethnic, cultural, and nationality groups and we have 16 of those countries and groups represented here," says Ken Kovach, of the International Services Center, which sponsors the Folk Festival.
The 16 groups include dancers, singers, and other nationality entertainers.
"Not only are we a nation of nations, we in Northeast Ohio are a region of nations," says Kovach. "Coming to celebrate the arts, and crafts, and cultures of these groups is who we are."
The festival runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at Wade Oval in University Circle. There is no admission charge.
Performing groups include Japanese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Nepali, Liberian, Russian, and Croatian ensembles.
Several nationality restaurants will sell food to benefit the International Services Center, which has helped refugees and immigrants for 94 years.
Asim Datta of the ISC says, "In this day and age of globalization, we need to be able to connect everybody and anybody all over the world. And so the idea is to bring the entire world into our backyard, right here at Wade Oval on Sunday."
"Let people experience each other so we get over our suspicions, and get to know each other," said Datta. "This will do us a tremendous amount of good." (See complete article on WKYC.com)
The International Folk Festival moving to
Cleveland's Wade Oval in search of a new audience
Published: Friday, July 09, 2010, 9:00 AM Updated: Friday, July 09, 2010, 9:34 AM
by
Robert L. Smith, The Plain Dealer
...On Sunday, July 18, the venerable festival will break out from a long routine. The 21st edition will showcase the talent of the region's cultural communities at an outdoor spectacle at Wade Oval in University Circle. In another first, admission will be free, thanks to corporate sponsors like Nordson Corp. "We decided, 'Let's share this with a lot more people,' " said Ken Kovach, president of the board of the International Services Center, which relies on the folk festival as a major fundraiser. (Read the full article)
New Venue for IFF
Please SAVE THIS DATE for the 21st Annual INTERNATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL: Sunday, July 18, 2010 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Wade Oval in University Circle.
We have changed the location from "inside" at Playhouse Square to "outside" in University Circle.
The event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
We are continuing to solicit corporate and other organizational sponsorships to make the event possible. This event has been a major opportunity to showcase the region�€™s multicultural heritage by bring together the "best-of-the-best" performing groups - dancers, singers, and musicians.
At the 20th Anniversary of the Folk Festival in 2009 we had the following groups: African Soul International, Chinese Music Ensemble, Cleveland Firefighter Memorial Pipe Band, Kashtan Ukrainian Dancers, McCarthy Irish Academy of Dance, "Piast" Polish Dance Ensemble, Ritmo Y Raza Dance Company, and St. Haralambros Hellenic Dancers. This year we have over 16 groups (as of 7/9/2010) on the program!