Burning Cicada will host its annual Arts and Music Festival from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Hopkins Park, 1403 Sycamore Road.
Event organizer and CEO of Burning Cicada Byron Wise started this event to help those in the DeKalb community.
“The festival is a result of wanting to add value and have an effect on the community,” Wise said. “It started as a creative endeavor and began to mature into something of a substitute outreach to support health resources and be something in the community that is accessible, friendly and fun.”
The event centers around growing a culture of dialogue and creative support for many in the DeKalb area. Community partners such as Safe Passage, who provides resources for domestic violence and sexual assault victims, and mental health support services National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Ben Gordon Center: The Mobile Living Room, will be in attendance to answer questions from attendees during the festival.
Guest speakers Steve Deiss and Darian Shelton will also be present and will share “their respective life stories of how they navigated and overcame deep obstacles toward finding value, connection and purpose,” Burning Cicada said in a press release distributed Thursday.
There will also be musical performances presented throughout the day on stage of the Dee Palmer Bandshell. The performers will include Renee Nanzer, Cora Vasseur, Joe Kvasnicka, Fernando Marroquin Mendoza, Chaos a Chord, Lori Jones, Daerielle Balika and Steve Deiss with more to be announced.
The event is about much more than just art and music, but also getting people together even over the harder parts of life.
“It is, I think, a good place to meet people of like mind but also to be encouraged and to get reenergized and re-center,” Wise said. “At the end of the day, what we’re trying to say is that life is hard and that it’s alright to not be okay but you can get through it.”
Additionally, there will be activities for all ages such as an interactive hula hoop workshop, which Nanzer will lead, along with face painting by Jessie Keller.
Wise hopes that this event allows attendees to connect with their inner child through the activities that will be happening.
“It’s okay to shine, to connect, to play as a child, to have fun, to express their happiness,” Wise said. “We hope that the festival provides a place where they can do that.”
Admission is free, but registration is required. Tickets are available on burningcicada.com.
