Lummis Day Festival June 7

The 2009 Lummis Day Festival will present an expanded program of over two dozen musical, dance and theatrical artists performing on four stages, plus simultaneous events showcasing Los Angeles poetry and art at three Northeast L.A. locations on Sunday, June 7, from 10:30 am to 7:30 pm. Admission to all events is free.

Now in its fourth year, Lummis Day celebrates the patchwork of cultures and ethnicities that enriches the Northeast Los Angeles community.

Artists will represent Latino, Tagalog, Native American, Anglo and Nigerian traditions. Music will include blues, rock, banda, salsa, jazz and country. Dance troupes representing Philippine, Mexican, Pacific Island and African dance traditions, plus poets, painters and culinary artists, all with local connections, will add to the Festival's diverse collection of cultures.

The Lummis Day Festival will begin at 10:30 am with the annual Poetry gala at Lummis Home (200 E. Ave. 43) and will continue with art exhibitions at Casa de Adobe (4605 N. Figueroa St.) and musical, dance and theatrical performances at Sycamore Grove Park (4702 N. Figueroa St.) beginning at 12:30 pm and continuing through 7:30 pm.
Artists scheduled to appear at the festival will include Ozomatli’s Wil Dog Y Su Banda, the psychedelic country group, I See Hawks in L.A. and local rock bands The Monolators and Seasons.

Blues and roots music will be performed by Carlos Guitarlos, salsa will be presented by former Quetzal-members BombaChante. In addition, Festival-goers will hear the Native American "round dance" music of Glen Ahhaitty, a cameo appearance by members of the celebrated socially and politically charged comic performance group, Culture Clash, jazz from the Pretentious Pigeons and a kid-friendly "preview performance" of Juli Crockett’s theater piece "Dawn of Quixote, Chapter the First," which has been selected for the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Poets appearing at the morning gala will include authors Ruben Martinez, Suzanne Lummis and Gail Wronsky. Art exhibitions at the Autry National Center ’s Casa de Adobe, just across the street from Sycamore Grove Park, will feature J. Michael Walker, Raoul de la Sota, Luis Villanueva, Julie Nagesh and others.

Dance troupes will represent folk traditions of many cultures and will include Kultura Philippine Folk Arts, the Cypress Park Folkloric Dancers, Francis Awe Nigerian Talking DrumEnsemble and Pacific Island dance group, Keiki O Ka Aina.

The "We Tell Stories" group will perform in a family entertainment area, along with the "Puppets and Players Little Theater." Appearances will be made by personalities representing Lummis Day media sponsors (KMEX Channel 34, KTTV Channel 11 and KPFK public radio 90.7), food vendors representing many of the ethnic cuisines available in the area and community tables representing a cross-section of neighborhood issues.

Lummis Day program information can be found at www.lummisday.org.

Lummis Day takes its name from Charles Fletcher Lummis, who joined the L.A. Times as the newspaper's first city editor in 1876. A prolific writer and photographer, Lummis was also one of the city's first librarians, founded the Southwest Museum and helped introduce the concept of multi-culturalism to Southern California.

The 4th Annual Lummis Day: The Festival of Northeast Los Angeles will be presented on Sunday June 7 by the Autry National Center, the Annenberg Foundation and the neighborhood councils of Northeast Los Angeles (Arroyo Seco, Historic Highland Park, Greater Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, L.A. 32 and Glassell Park.) Media sponsors are KPFK Public Radio 90.7 and Univision KMEX Channel 34. Additional sponsorship is provided by the Highland Park Heritage Trust, Jose Huizar and Council District 14, Ed Reyes and Council District 1, the Department of Recreation and Parks, and Poets & Writers Inc. through a grant it has received from the James Irvine Foundation and the Mount Washington Association. This concert is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.