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                                        <span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:navy">
                                        News Release</span></b> </p>
                                        <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">
                                        Contact: Michael G. Gaffney, APR<br>
                                        Vice President, Marketing<br>
                                        Office: 330-643-5532<br>
                                        Cell: 330-701-8080</span><p>
                                        <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">
                                        Date: May 22, 2013</span></p>
                                        <p><b><font style="font-size:11pt" face="Arial">FOR 
                                        IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br>
                                        <br>
                                        </font><font face="Arial" size="5">ETHNIC ARTISTS SOUGHT FOR 
                                        GLOBAL VILLAGE FESTIVAL </font></b>
                                        <font style="font-size:11pt" face="Arial"><br>
                                        <br>
                                        (AKRON, OHIO) — The Global Village Festival is seeking local 
                                        artists, musicians and musical acts with ethnic fusion to 
                                        participate at this fall’s 2nd Annual Event on Saturday, 
                                        September 14 at Lock 3 Park in Downtown Akron.<br>
                                        <br>
                                        The Global Village Festival of Greater Akron is a 
                                        celebration of international and ethnic diversity in our 
                                        community. This event will highlight the dynamics of the 
                                        cultural diversity in our modern urban environment, and is 
                                        designed to enable distinctive cultural expressions – 
                                        including performances, exhibitions, international cuisine, 
                                        and much more.<br>
                                        <br>
                                        Performers in a variety of categories, including music, 
                                        instrumental music, theater, dance, storytelling/puppetry, 
                                        martial arts, and more are encouraged to apply. The 
                                        application form can be found online at
                                        <a href="http://www.akrongvf.org/participate.htm">
                                        www.akrongvf.org/participate.htm</a>. <br>
                                        <br>
                                        Performers will be selected based on the quality of their 
                                        performance and the ability to represent the ethnicity 
                                        specified on the application. Typically, each act will 
                                        perform for 20 to 30 minutes and will perform only once 
                                        unless other arrangements have been made with the Festival 
                                        Committee. Larger groups may perform up to 45 minutes if 
                                        approved by Festival Committee.<br>
                                        <br>
                                        The Global Village Festival of Greater Akron is a free 
                                        community event. All performers are asked to donate their 
                                        time and talent. A sliding scale has been created to help 
                                        cover some costs that might be incurred by performers. Acts 
                                        are permitted and encouraged to have their merchandise 
                                        available for sale to festival attendees, however, they must 
                                        complete a Vendor Application prior to the event. All 
                                        performers must meet the requirements as set by the City of 
                                        Akron.<br>
                                        <br>
                                        According to Global Village Festival coordinator Helena 
                                        Larios, “One of the great parts of this event is the wide 
                                        variety of entertainment that our attendees will see. All 
                                        types of artists, from traditional to modern and from music 
                                        to dance to performance art are encouraged to apply. Our 
                                        committee members are bringing some performers to our 
                                        attention, but there are certainly many that we don’t know 
                                        about and we don’t want to miss them.”<br>
                                        <br>
                                        Summit County’s international and ethnic diversity is an 
                                        extremely important community asset that can enrich and 
                                        enlarge our collective world view. The Global Village 
                                        Festival is an international culture festival that will help 
                                        foster a greater awareness and appreciation for the 
                                        diversity that exists in Summit County. Those who attend 
                                        will leave the festival with knowledge, contacts, and 
                                        resources that they can develop and nurture into meaningful 
                                        connections.<br>
                                        <br>
                                        The purpose of this event is to unite people from all 
                                        cultures - celebrating our commonalities and differences 
                                        through performing arts, music, dance, song, authentic 
                                        ethnic foods, visual arts, interactive & educational 
                                        exhibits and a global marketplace. </font></p></td>
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                                        <td> </td></tr></tbody></table><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr">Festival Committee Coordinator<br>Global Village Festival of Greater Akron<br>90 N Prospect Ave. Akron, Ohio 44304<br>234-738-4410<br><a href="http://www.akrongvf.org/" target="_blank">http://www.akrongvf.org/</a><br>
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