Various facts about the City and its diverse makeup are included. For example, according to the calendar’s introduction by City Manager Kevin DeFebbo, recent census data shows that about 13% of Bowling Green residents were born in other countries.

“This diversity provide Bowling Green with a cultural richness and maturity not found in may other cities our size” he says.

Other 2016 statistics include: there are 264 subscribers to the City’s bilingual e-Newsletter Amigos Resource Network; 70 newly Naturalized Citizens were recognized at the inaugural Reception for New Americans; 243 City staff members received Cultural Competency Training; 2077 minutes of over-the-phone interpreters services were provided to individuals with limited English proficiency accessing non-emergency City services and 4,913 minutes over-the-phone interpreter’s services were provided to individuals with limited English proficiency accessing emergency City services of police.

The calendar is free to pick up in various City government buildings.

Hannah Barahona with Tony Rose on D93’s Tony Rose Morning Show

South-central KY is lucky to have media that is so supportive of community events! Thanks to our top media sponsors WNKY 40 & WBVR, The Beaver 96.7 as well as our media sponsors: The Daily News, SAM 100.7, The Point 105.3, WDNS FM D93, WKCT News/Talk 93, WOVO 106.3, The Amplifier, WLYE 94.1, WUHU 107 FM, and WBGN 1340! A shout out also to non sponsor media supports like WBKO, Revolution 91.7, WKU FM, Christian Family Radio and the College Heights Herald! Listen to your favorite radio station over the next couple of days for your chance to win free tickets or a Restaurant Discount Card which will save you 10% for a year at 29 area restaurants!

Hannah Barahona has been making the rounds promoting the festival. Watch her listen to her wherever you turn for community news.  Hannah is a festival Board member, the Volunteer Coordinator and our Sponsorship CoChair.  By day she is a realtor with the Progressive Real Estate Group at Coldwell Banker.

Hannah was joined by volunteer Emma Thomas at Revolution 91.7 for an interview with Uncle Same and then continued on to WKU FM.

Emma Thomas & Hannah Barahona on with Uncle Sam on Revolution 91.7

You can hear Hannah’s interview with Tony Rose of WDNS FM D93’s Tony Rose Morning Show.  Later yesterday she joined Tommy Starr on D93 for Home Cookin’ and will soon talk with Steve Meredith of WKCT’s DriveTime.

Earlier in the month Hannah sat down with one of our festival pinatas on SOKY Sunrise and In Kentucky on WNKY CBS 40 & NBC 40.  They are also running beautiful commercial spots with footage they filmed at last years festival which can be viewed on our YouTube channel.

Hannah also spoke with WBVR’s Preston Green this week then went on to visit the Commonwealth Broadcasting studio for interviews with Mike Shannon of WOVO and Cameron Coats of 96 HITS.

Hannah Barahona with Tommy Starr of D93’s Home Cookin’.

Finally, watch WBKO’s AM Kentucky for Hannah’s last TV appearance this year!

And pick up today’s Daily News for Alyssa Harvey’s article about the 2016 Bowling Green International Festival!  Thanks to all our media sponsors and supporters for your support of this and other community events!!

The Festival features both traditional and innovative, modern fusion groups.  Some performers are community members wishing to showcase traditions of their ancestors while others are seasoned performers ready to rock the stages with their unique sounds.

A special thanks to our stage hosts Armin Hasanagic, Robin Sunderland & Katelyn Mason and sound crew, Ambush Sound.

Visit BGInternationalFest.com/entertainment to view all the artists and visit links to their website or social media profiles.

2016 Performance Schedule:

Diversity Stage [host: Robin Sunderland]
• 8:45 Opening Ceremony – Recognitions, welcome.
• 9:00-10:15 The Great Barrier Reefs – Steel drum, world, funk, jazz
• 10:25-10:31 Las Adelitas – Guadalajaran folk dance
• 10:35-10:50 Dance Arts Performance Troupe – Salsa, Hip Hop routine
• 11:00-11:05 Ballet Folclorico – Traditional Mexican dance
• 11:10-11:25 Kentucky Grapplers – Malaysian Martial Arts
• 11:30-11:45 Tutu Entertainment – Latin dance lessons
• 11:50-12:20 Las Flamencas – Spanish Flamenco dance
• 12:25-12:33 WKU Dance Company – Dance tribute to Anadyr, Russia
• 12:48-2:03 Roux du Bayou Cajun Band – Traditional Cajun and Zydeco music
• 2:13-2:28 Kentucky Grapplers – Malaysian Martial Arts
• 2:31-2:46 Guru Vandana Arts Academy – Classical Indian dance
• 2:49-2:59 Manisha Arora – Rajasthan, Indian folk dance
• 3:02-3:13 Rachana Pasupuleti – Indian folk dance
• 3:28-4:33 Afrophysicists – W. African grooves, Latin pulse
• 4:48-6:00 Appalatin – Latin Infused Roots Music
Heritage Stage [host: Armin Hasanagic]
• 9:00-9:15 Srihari & Group – Indian semi-classical singing
• 9:20-9:35 Rachana Pasupuleti – Indian folk dance
• 9:40-9:55 Guru Vandana Arts – Classical Indian dance
• 10:00-10:10 Aanyaa Arora – Rajasthan, Indian folk dance
• 10:15-10:23 WKU Dance Company – Dance tribute to Anadyr, Russia
• 10:30-11:00 Las Flamencas – Spanish Flamenco dance
• 11:10-12:05 Roads to Home – Irish traditional music
• 12:10-12:16 Las Adelitas – Guadalajaran folk dance
• 12:21-1:21 Armin Hasanagic & Emsud Delkic Bosnian – Bosnian pop & traditional music
• 1:30–2:15 Cheryl Pan – Traditional Chinese dance
• 2:20-2:26 Las Adelitas – Guadalajaran folk dance
• 2:30-2:45 Islanders Hula Girls – Pohnpeian Hula
• 2:50-3:05 Dance Arts Performance Troupe –
• 3:10-3:25 Kentucky Grapplers – Malaysian Martial Arts
• 3:30-3:42 Best of Africa Club – Traditional & modern African dance with an American twist
• 3:47-4:17 Bhutanese/Nepalese Community – Dance of Nepal
• 4:22-4:32 Nina Doan – Vietnamese songs
• 4:37-4:52 Islanders Hula Girls – Pohnpeian Hula
• 4:57-5:17 Zingara Belly Dance – Belly Dance Troupe
• 5:22-6:00 Pati Kele – W. African drums & dance
World Performance Area [Host Katelyn Mason]
• 9:00-10:15 Burmese Communities – Traditional dance from Burmese, Zomi, Karen & Karenni Cultures
• 10:25-11:20 Coqui LLontop – Puruvian
• 11:25-11:35 Nina Doan – Vietnamese songs
• 11:45-12:40 Def Leprechaun – Irish folk tunes
• 12:50-1:45 Pati Kele – W. African drums & dance
• 1:50-2:35 Belize Dance Intermix – Belize Garifuna & Creole Dance
• 2:40-2:52 Best of Africa Club – Traditional & modern African dance with an American twist
• 3:00-4:15 Burmese Communities – Traditional dance from Burmese, Zomi, Karen & Karenni Cultures
• 4:25-4:55 Midori Kai – Japanese Bon Dance
• 5 :00-5:10 Zo United Organization of Ky. – Song & dance of Zo Chin Culture
• 5:15-5:30 Srihari & Group – Indian semi-classical singing
• 5:35-5:50 Guru Vandana Arts Academy – Classical Indian dance
• 5:50-6:00 Rachana Pasupuleti – Indian folk dance
• 6:05-6:10 Ballet Folclorico – Traditional Mexican dance

Chiseled Features Studio [Host Ronnie Jaggers]
Children are invited to bust handmade pinatas by Ronnie Jaggers of Chiseled Features Studios every hour on the hour.

Design our 2017 shirt! Find details about the contest on our website. The deadline is November 15, 2016 for the 2017.

Emily Harvey was the winner of our 2016 T-shirt Design Contest.  Her design will be available on crew neck Indigo and v-neck purple heather shirts at the Merchandise Booth at the Bowling Green International Festival.

Emily graduated from WKU in the Spring with a BFA in Graphic Design and is actively pursuing the life of a freelance artist; working on illustrative, design, and fine arts projects. Her two greatest passions in life are art and animals. Much of the inspiration behind her art derives from her childhood on a farm and spending her teen years working in an animal shelter. It is her greatest goal to create art that is both beautiful and rich with purpose.

Past T-shirt designs are also available at our Merchandise Booth by the Fountain on festival day.

After the Festival, you can still purchase our classic logo shirt or a Restaurant Discount Card at Mellow Matt’s Music & More at 1200 Smallhouse Rd, Ste C. Bowling Green, KY.

Other Bowling Green International Festival art contests include our iShorts Movie Contest and our K-12 Student Poster Contest.

To vote, visit and like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bginternationalfest then go to the poster contest albums to choose and like your favorite.

There are two categories and the posters from each are in a different album. An award will be given to the designer of the image in each album that receives the most likes by September 21 at midnight.  Winners will be announced on Facebook September 22.

Direct links:

Entries from Elementary & Middle Schools: https://www.facebook.com/bginternationalfest/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10153702728366207

Entries from High Schools: https://www.facebook.com/bginternationalfest/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10153702712146207

Thanks to Warren County Attorney, Amy Milliken and her office including Kasey Davis who organize, collect and judge our posters for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. Thanks also to Festival Board Member and Community Planner Kimberly Nessler who organizes and conducts the Facebook voting for the People’s Choice Awards.

The designers of both the judged and the People’s Choice awards will receive a trophy and recognition during the opening ceremony of the Bowling Green International Festival on September 24 during the opening ceremony conducted by Festival Board Members Hannah Barahona and Leyda Becker at 8:45 a.m. on the Diversity Stage.

The festival takes place at Circus Square Park at 621 State Street, Bowling Green Kentucky from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m on Saturday September 24.

Visit www.BGInternationalFest.com for more information.

Thanks to WNKY-TV for the beautiful new commercial spot they created for the Bowling Green International Festival. The spot will run on NBC-40 and CBS-40. From their beginning, WNKY has been one of the Festival’s largest sponsors. In 2015 they attended the Festival and captured some great new footage for our commercial spots.  Thanks WNKY for your support of this and so many other community events and organizations!

Jaggers also creates jewelry, figurines, paintings, piñatas, miniature game pieces, models, graphic arts, screen printing, originals for concrete statues, fountains, stained glass and more.  Some of her work will be on display in her booth near the piñata area.

]]> https://bginternationalfest.wordpress.com/2016/09/07/festival-pinatas-nearing-completion/feed/ 0 1373 kim65mason 2016-pinatas https://bginternationalfest.wordpress.com/2016/09/02/bgif-k-12-student-poster-contest-underway/ https://bginternationalfest.wordpress.com/2016/09/02/bgif-k-12-student-poster-contest-underway/#respond Fri, 02 Sep 2016 15:25:44 +0000 http://bginternationalfest.wordpress.com/?p=1365 The Bowling Green International Festival poster contest is now underway. The contest challenges K-12 students to create posters celebrating the Festival. Southcentral Kentucky students from public, private or home schools are invited to participate. The deadline is Thursday Sept. 8.

Posters are divided into age categories and judged on creativity, craftsmanship, and content by staff at the Warren County Attorney’s Office. In addition, a People’s Choice Award will be given to the student in each category whose poster receives the most likes on the festival’s Facebook page during online voting.

Be sure to like our Facebook page so you can vote on an audience favorite from each category beginning September 12-21. Although we will not post identifying information on the images during the contest, Facebook users are free to tag images. Votes cast by profiles that have not liked the page will not be counted.

Submit your entry before 4 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, 2016 to the Warren County Attorney’s Office (1001 Center Street, Suite 206, Bowling Green KY 42101).

Winners will be recognized at the Bowling Green International Festival Opening Ceremony at 9 a.m. on September 24 on the Diversity Stage. All judged and audience choice winners will receive a trophy. All winners will also be announced on our social media accounts on September 22.

A special thanks to Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken and her staff for conducting and organizing the poster contest!

Questions: Call Amy Milliken at (270) 781-3562.

For more details visit: bginternationalfest.com/entertainment/poster_contest

Today, she is one of the Festival’s most valuable assets, aiding with publicity and creating signage and volunteer instructions in advance of the event. On festival day, you can see her helping with site setup and supervising Gate 2 throughout the day.

The Bowling Green International Festival is organized by a small group of people working year round. Over 200 volunteers are needed on Saturday, September 24 to run the event. If you are interested in helping visit http://bginternationalfest.com/volunteer and signup for the shift of your choice.