For Immediate Release:      

Eatonville, FL– January 20, 2022 – The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community (P.E.C.) announced this morning, modifications to the Festival’s Season Kick-off programming at the 33^rd Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA! Festival 2022).

Winfred Chad McKendrick, President of P.E.C.’s Governing Board stated, “After extensive consultation with the festival’s stakeholders, community leaders and Mrs. N.Y. Nathiri, P.E.C.’s Executive Director, our Board has chosen to reschedule the Outdoor Festival of the Arts to June 4 – 5, due to the surge in Covid infections in Central Florida. While we looked forward to this year’s celebrations with great anticipation, we know that the health of our festival attendees and our community is of paramount importance. We are pleased that George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic will perform on Saturday, June 4 and that Kim Waters and Tom Browne will also return on Sunday, June 5, a line-up fitting to the kick-off weekend of Black Music Month and celebrate the musical genius of people of African ancestry.”

McKendrick also stated that the organization will honor tickets purchased for the January Outdoor Festival in June. Also, ticket purchases can be refunded in full. Patrons wishing a refund of their Outdoor Festival tickets should visit www.zorafestival.org and follow the prompts for Refunds.

P.E.C.’s Immediate Past President of the board Marie-Jose Francois, MD, MPH, CHES, President/CEO Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention, Inc., informed the board stating, “It is wise for PEC to reschedule the Zora Outdoor Festival to June 4 and 5, 2022 due to the emergence of the OMICRON variant, which now makes up to 95% of COVID-19 in the United States, and the winter surge cases of COVID -19 skyrocketing overall. We need to look at the health of the community first. A large gathering like the Zora Festival could be a mass spreader event enabling the rapid transmission of the virus. By being in very close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated puts people at a higher risk when they are closer than 6 feet apart from others for longer periods of time.”

N.Y. Nathiri, Executive Director of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community added, “The annual ZORA! Festival is so important because this event provides a space for the general public to enjoy the finest arts and humanities programming in a safe and inspiring environment. At this time, when the stresses and strains of every-day life can present sometimes seemingly overwhelming challenges, what a joy it is to bring together the human family, where guests can learn about and enjoy the cultural contributions which people of African ancestry have made to the United States and to the world.”

“While the Outdoor Festival of the Arts has been rescheduled, the 2022 ZORA! Festival Season, with the 33rd Annual ZORA! Festival is presenting a rich array of virtual programming that is attracting a global audience. In the week coming up, we see the power of that programming in full display,” said N.Y. Nathiri.

Scheduled ZORA! Festival virtual programming for January includes the following:

• The 3rd Annual Africa – America Women’s Economic Forum (AAWEF), taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, the 25th & 26th, will be a 100% virtual event, with participants from Nigeria, Ghana, and other locations on the African continent, as well as from all over the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Caribbean. The AAWEF, will showcase the strength of collaboration with partners such as Prosper Africa, a 17-inter-agency initiative of the federal government, along with Rollins College, Access Bank of Nigeria, and the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University
• The Seminole State College Speaker Series featuring Dr Rebecca Wanzo takes place on Wednesday, January 26^th.
• The Afrofuturism Conference, sponsored by the UCF College of Arts and Humanities, will also be virtual. Held on Thursday and Friday, the 27th & 28th, the conference theme is Afrofuturism in the Visual Realm.
• Virtual programming in the January schedule will also be the focus for secondary school youngsters. Examples are the 9th Annual ZORA! STEM Conference for Middle School Students, another P.E.C. collaborative project, with partners Orange County Public Schools, Valencia College, Orlando Science Center, the UCF College of Medicine, the National Center for Simulation, and Florida High Tech Corridor. Another virtual offering will be an author presentation sponsored by the Orange County Library System.

Information about all these programs is available at www.zorafestival.org.

Media Contacts:

Terri Vismale-Morris
Public Relations Director
33rd Annual ZORA! Festival
tvmorris@new-ideas-images.com

Adrienne Noel
Media Relations Manager
33rd Annual ZORA! Festival
anoel@marketingmindsatwork.com

Chet Glover
Media Consultant
33rd Annual ZORA! Festival
chetglover@aol.com