Train horns, cardboard village: What’s new at this year’s FusionFest
The message of FusionFest — a free celebration of the rich tapestry of cultures that make up Central Florida — will be trumpeted from the skies this year in a new opening extravaganza. Well, maybe “trumpeted” isn’t precisely the right word, but the message will be heard from above.
Special “sounders” — a new sort of instrument devised by Keith Lay — will be played from the roofs of downtown Orlando buildings such as the First United Methodist Church and the CNL Center to get the ball rolling on the fourth annual cultural celebration.
Fusion Fest returns to the front yard of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and Orange Avenue Nov. 27-28 with plenty of food, film, fashion, music and dance. More than 100 heritages will be represented by more than 1,000
Central Florida performers.
The Opening Spectacle is directed by Joshian Morales and will be repeated both days of the festival. Musicians will be stationed around downtown — on the mayor’s balcony at City Hall and in the arts center’s DeVos Family Room, for example — to bring Lay’s piece to life.
Lay, a Central Floridian composer, wrote the fanfare specifically for the festival — and timed it so the sound traveling from the different buildings should all arrive in listeners’ ears at the correct time.
“It just blows my mind,” says Terry Olson, the festival’s chief instigator, as he’s known. Those “sounders,” by the way, are made from train horns set to different pitches.
“It reminds me of alpine horns, echoing through the mountains,” Olson says.
The Opening Spectacle
also will feature a reading of Maya Angelou’s “Human Family” by multiple speakers, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. The festival’s traditional processional of flags of the world also will take place.
The flags represent the heritage of Central Floridians, who come from all over the world. That spirit will be represented in another new addition to the festival: A children’s play area made of every imaginative kid’s favorite toy, the humble cardboard box.
Titled “Cardboard Village of the World,” the area will be designed by members of American Institute of Architects
Students from Valencia College and the University of Central Florida. They will use refrigerator boxes
and other large pieces of cardboard to re-create architectural styles from around the world, with
doors ready for exploring.
The family section of the festival also features an art tent and an area for games.
Dance remains a cornerstone of FusionFest, with performances by more than 40 ensembles.
“The dances are so colorful and express different cultures so easily and broadly,” Olson says.
The festival’s spokenword program also has been getting a lot of buzz, he says. Led by Shawn Welcome, the city of Orlando’s poet laureate, the program brings in performers who speak on the theme of diversity.
But for many visitors, the highlight is invariably the most universal aspect of the festival: The food. Available for purchase, culinary samples showcase delicacies from around the world. Best of all, you don’t have to limit yourself.
“It’s served in small sizes so you can try a lot,” Olson says.
FusionFest
When: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 27, noon-6 p.m. Nov. 28
Where: Between the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia St., and City Hall, 400 S. Orange Ave. in Orlando
Cost: Free entry; food and drink must be purchased; a $25 VIP ticket includes four food tokens, a neck wallet, souvenir button and raffle tickets
Info: FusionFest.org
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