Dudley Celebrated Its Legacy and Future at 29th Annual Multicultural Festival

Samba Viva pose for pictures after their performance.

On Saturday, August 18th, over 500 Dudley residents and supporters of all ages came together to celebrate our community. This included 95 musicians, dancers, actors, circus performers, painters, healing artists, and creative placemakers from Dudley to Cape Verde; that’s over a 50% increase from last year’s artist participation. Featured artists included Zili Misik, Samba Viva, Afrika Rainbow and Circus Up!. We celebrated our past successes and envisioned a future of “development without displacement” in our neighborhood.

The Festival wasn’t only an opportunity for artists; a cohort of 25 youth staff took leadership in the organizing and promotion of the event, 30 local businesses participated, and 20 community organizations spent the day reaching out to the community. DSNI Arts and Culture Manager Ramona Alexander attributed this year’s success to the increased planning and decision-making roles taken on by DSNI’s Arts and Culture Committee. She also noted the importance of holding this space at a moment of national political uncertainty.  “We provided a space for artists and activists to rest their weary caps and come back home to celebrate. Even revolutionaries need to breathe in the things that are good and happening in the world!”

This year we had generous support from our top sponsors including Bank of America, The Boston Foundation, Santander Bank and Suffolk Cares.

Save the date for our 30th Annual Multicultural Festival, on Saturday, August 18, 2018.