New festival celebrates diverse local artists
Fun, and family and creativity were the overwhelming feeling this past weekend at the first ever Tamarac Arts and Crafts Festival – a spectacular three-day festival held at the Tamarac community center. Hosted by the Tamarac Chamber of Commerce and the City of Tamarac, this new event seeks to cater to the growing diversity of its residents, showcasing the community various artistic, musical and culinary talents.
With over 50 vendors, the festival showcased the works of artists in and around the Tamarac area, displaying diverse mediums, from oil and acrylic paintings to beaded handmade jewelry, and fun items such as seasonal dresses created out of vintage pillowcases. Children were also encouraged to get their creativity on, getting their hands dirty in glitter and paint while making art and décor items at the various, free kid art stations at the festival.
The Festival also provided a creative space for many international artists to display their creative works reflecting their motherlands. One artist, Vaughn Tucker, used memories to recreate poetic, but uncompromising images of his youth growing up in Jamaica. Haitian artist ZOBOP showed his lyrical acrylic painting reflecting both the beauty and complex history of his homeland.
However, you can’t use the word festival without having performances thrown in the mix. On the main stage at the head of festival site were electrifying community acts, from Tamarac’s own Indian dance group Champa Chameli, founded by resident Radhika Deonarine, to the smooth stylings of Jamaican-born singer, Sheena O. Murray. There was also an exciting performance including Tamarac City Mayor, Harry Dressler and other members of the Chamber.
With such great support and attendance from festival goers, vendors are hopeful that this will become an annual event. Walking by the many tents filled with passionate pieces of art, alongside food trucks conjuring up tantalizing specialty flavors, this inaugural event may hopefully become another signature event for Tamarac, celebrating all the diverse imagination of this creatively booming city.
