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DiverCity Festival Celebrates Lexington’s Cultural Diversity

A lively festival scene at the DiverCity Festival in Lexington, featuring performances and food stalls.

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News Summary

The DiverCity Festival will take place at the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza, featuring nearly 50 performances, cultural booths, and food vendors. This annual event honors Lexington’s diverse heritage while marking the city’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Attendees can enjoy a variety of cultural expressions, including music, dance, and art, promoting community connections through appreciation for different cultures.

Lexington will host the fifth annual DiverCity Festival on Saturday, May 24, from 12 to 7 p.m. at the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza located at 120 N. Limestone. The festival is a significant event commemorating the city’s cultural diversity, marking the 250th anniversary celebrations of Lexington.

Featuring nearly 50 performances on two stages, the DiverCity Festival aims to educate, celebrate, and embrace cultural diversity through entertainment, food, and art. The program encompasses a wide range of cultural expressions, including traditional Irish dance, hip hop, spoken word, smooth jazz, Latin dances, and African music ensembles. The first stage will feature various cultural performances throughout the day, while headliners Honeychild and TD Young will take the second stage at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

The festival will also host around 70 cultural booths and more than a dozen food vendors, offering attendees a chance to explore and taste different cultures. Brett Bibb, the director of the DiverCity Festival and a member of the Leadership Lexington class that conceived the event, emphasized the festival’s goal of fostering community connections through an appreciation of cultural diversity.

Lexington is home to an East African community of approximately 8,000, making Swahili the third-most spoken language in the city. The Marafiki Center, which serves this community, will participate in the festival with a special dance performance featuring 23 performers, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of these residents.

During the month of May, several events are scheduled to celebrate Lexington’s unique communities, including the International Fashion Show and Dance, the Black Leadership Awards, and an exhibition focused on Lexington’s LGBTQ history. These events align with the city’s efforts to highlight the multicultural dimension of Lexington, reinforcing the significance of diversity in building community connections.

Christian Motley, the 250Lex May Ambassador for Diversity Month, encourages local residents to reflect on Lexington’s rich cultural history amidst the 250th anniversary celebrations. Historical insights provided by Mandy Higgins, the executive director of the Lexington History Museum, reveal that the city has a diverse heritage dating back to the 1800s with various immigrant populations contributing to its cultural fabric.

In a notable historical instance, Lexington commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit in 1824, with events including the dedication of markers in his honor. The DiverCity Festival, along with other activities throughout the month, seeks to cultivate awareness and appreciation of the cultural variety that exists within the city.

Participation in some events will require registration, and a comprehensive calendar of events can be found at 250Lex.com. The DiverCity Festival stands as a vibrant celebration of Lexington’s diversity and a reminder of the historical and cultural richness that the community has to offer.