YSU Summer Festival of Arts marks 10 enriching years

July 10, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Collaboration, convergence and community celebration have long been hallmarks of Youngstown State University’s Summer Festival of the Arts. As the festival marks its 10th anniversary milestone this weekend, those attributes shine more brightly than ever.

The festival, the largest of its kind in the Mahoning Valley, thrives on the best that this region’s robust artistic and cultural communities have to offer. It celebrates diversity in all forms, particularly our Valley’s enduring melting pot of ethnic heritages. It showcases the artistic talents of area painters, crafters, musicians, actors and dancers. It offers a potpourri of food treats from across the globe.

Year after year, the tens of thousands who attend the red-letter weekend on and near the campus of YSU have come to expect as much. Year after year, the organizers come through to ensure that the patrons’ experience is consistently enriching.

Collaboration is key

Collaborative efforts among dozens of community groups, arts entities, YSU and other sponsors have ensured the summer fest’s tradition of success. Planning that aims for multiple organizations to converge in the YSU and downtown areas the second weekend of July guarantees plenty of free, fun, entertaining and educational activities for folks from 1 to 101.

This year, the tradition of collaboration continues to grow. The Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau will sponsor its first Downtown Jazz Festival on Friday night as a prelude to the arts festival Saturday and Sunday. The bureau also is sponsoring the first Wick Avenue Festival on Saturday that will feature special events at a dozen museums and attractions along Wick Avenue — from the Arms Museum of local history to the Youngstown Historical Center of Steel and Labor.

At the main festival grounds on campus, about 60 artists, more than half of whom are making return visits to the festival, will showcase and sell their works. The performing arts venues will feature acts as diverse as the St. Anne Ukrainian Dancers, the Red Hot Native American Society, Organizacion Civica Y Cultural Hispana Americana of Youngstown, County Mayo Irish musicians and YSU theater productions. The result is a conglomeration of celebration in the Valley’s cultural and artistic legacy.

A convergence of events

This year, the festival will likely break attendance records as hundreds of YSU alumni will converge on campus for the university’s All-Alumni Reunion, taking place in conjunction with the university’s Centennial Celebration and the summer fest. Nearby, patrons can also take part in the Smoky Hollow 5K Run sponsored by Wick Neighbors, the St. Nicholas Greek Summerfest and the Fort on the Fifty Stambaugh Stadium concert featuring Academy of Country Music award winners Ricochet.

In short, the festival and its related events prove our community whiners dead wrong: There is plenty to do in Youngstown, perhaps too much to do in the span of two short days this weekend.

The fest is also a testament to the value of cooperation and collaboration among dozens of community groups. Those in other sectors of Valley life would be well advised to follow their model.

For now though, it’s time for all of us to don our khakis and flip-flops, come on down to the expansive festival grounds and savor its many delights. Go to today’s Entertainment Extra cover story or www.ysu.edu/sfa for complete information and schedules for performances and events.