Sustainability Festival Expanding in 2002
By Ivars
"To help create a future we can live with" is the ultimate aim of the Athens Area Sustainability Festival, says AASF organizer Constantine Faller.
To help the future become what this community wants it to be, festival organizers are holding their second annual event, Sunday, October 13, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Athens County Fairgrounds.
This year's sustainability festival will showcase: sustainable agriculture, organic farming, local currency, recycling, solar power, watershed groups, earth plastering/straw bale/cob construction, local foods cooking demos, heritage preservation, sustainable community development initiatives, health and wellness practitioners, intentional communities, small business, do-it-yourselfers, free thinkers, local food, local music (acoustic and electric), contra dance, local vendors, local art, workshops and demonstrations, jugglers, clowns, theatrical groups, free kitchen, storytellers, poets...and more!
The tentative lineup for the electric stage will include: Akimbo; Direct Attention; The Redtails; and the New Relics (from Morgantown; WV).
The acoustic stage will feature: Matt Peters; Frank McDermott; Tony Beres and Lindy Kehoe of Forealious; Megan Cameron; June Bug; Deborah and Ken Colon of Changeling (from Columbus; OH); and Hilarie and Mark Burhans of the Hot Point String Band.
The newest component this year is theater and dance productions by local people. In the Athens Grange building will be the following performances:
12 p.m. Ivars Balkits - Albert Guess: Terror of the Valley
1 p.m. Michelle Sampson - Oriental Dance
2 p.m. Wallpaper Project - Coming Home
3 p.m. Michelle Sampson - Oriental Dance
4 p.m. Sarah Guthrie - Petronella
"Albert Guess; Terror of the Valley" is a monologue about a felonious miner lynched in 1885 in New Straitsville who tells about the 1884 Hocking Valley Strike during which area mines were set on fire and burned for over 100 years.
"Coming Home" is a reader's theater piece adapted from oral histories collected by the Wallpaper Project based in Auglaize County. Performers are Pete Hill, Shaina Cantino, and Amy King.
"Petronella" is a play based on the book by Jay Williams. The theater group is The Pieces Parts Children's Movable Theater Company and is comprised of area homeschoolers. Rheal Radwany is Petronella. Rush Radwany is Prince Michael and Albion the Enchanter. Tommy Frank is Prince George and Prince Ferdinand of Firebright. Keegan McGee is The Narrator. James McGee is the Old Woman and the Moon.
Michelle Sampson is a teacher from Perry County who does belly dance and Mid Eastern folk dances.
The Grange "theater" will also feature two shows by the nomadic RPM Puppet Conspiracy: "Garbage Liberation Front v. Convenience of Crapitalism: Turd Revolution" at 11 a.m.; and "Garbage Liberation Front v. Ruins of Civilization: Range War" at 5 p.m.
The AASF is an completely grassroots community event organized through consensus by volunteers working year-round in interest groups. The festival celebrates the many small businesses, organizations, individuals, and initiatives in the Athens area (including surrounding counties) dedicated to building a regional identity rooted in the principles of sustainability.
The planning committee for the AASF has selected three local organizations to be the recipients of proceeds from this year's event: Athens Conservancy, Community Food Initiatives, and Appalachian Peace and Justice Network.
For more information call (740) 448-1016 or send email to isbalkits@hotmail.com. Festival admission fee is $3. Donations to held defray expenses may be sent to PO Box 58, Amesville, OH 45711.
