FusionFest

As a certain sitcom’s theme song once put it, FusionFest is movin’ on up. After eight years on the Seneff Arts Plaza at Dr. Phillips Center, the annual Thanksgiving-weekend salute to cultural diversity in Orlando has relocated to Loch Haven Cultural Park.

Dates in the new location will be Saturday, November 28, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 29, from noon to 6 p.m. As always, the event will be jam-packed with musical and dance performances, fashion shows, cooking contests, spoken-word competitions and other forums for numerous heritage communities to strut their stuff.

The eclectic celebration, which debuted in 2018 as an initiative of Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs, should be right at home in the park, given the array of theatrical stages, visual-art collections and science exhibitions that occupy the 45-acre tract. The change of scenery was necessitated due to a timing conflict with the arts center’s Frontyard Holiday Festival.

While she speaks fondly of FusionFest’s eight years in Downtown Orlando, Maria Fernanda Saavedra, the event’s executive director, says that she’s looking forward to the potential for growth that the new location presents. “We’re excited about this,” she says. “We’ll be able to give more opportunities to more local vendors and local artists. And we’re going to be surrounded by the cultural hub of Orlando.”

There’s certainly a precedent for throwing a large-scale event in that location: The vast lawn nestled between Princeton Street and the Orlando Urban Trail has hosted the outdoor component of the Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival since 2004 and was the site of the now-defunct Artlando from 2014 to 2017.

Since its own founding, FusionFest has shone a spotlight on the varied lineages that Central Floridians claim as their own. Traditionally, more than 120 different demographics are represented—most obviously those defined by nationality and ethnicity. But the concept has grown to encompass individuals as well as groups.

Significantly, the theme of this year’s festival is “The Art of Well-Being: Cultures That Nurture the Mind, Body and Spirit.” Related features will include the “Joy Tent,” where visitors can learn the self-care practices of other lands, and an “Inclusion Tent,” where visitors of differing abilities will be invited to participate in immersive activities.

Not that the festival has lost interest in visual imagery—far from it. Colombian artists Nelson Cardenas and Alberto Gómez-Gómez will create large murals in real time to immortalize the weekend’s activities, while illustrator Angelo Vazquez will document the goings-on with smaller-scale sketches.

There’ll also be another installment of the “MyGration” film series, which presents biographical shorts about locals with interesting personal histories. This year’s subjects include Ukrainian relief activist Yaryna Levytska, New Zealand-bred composer Christopher Marshall and Antiguan-American artist and impresario Gareth Edwards.

In recent years, the festival has placed an increased emphasis on its multigenerational appeal. Its runway fashion show, for example—which once had individual adult models doing standard solo walks—has grown to encompass ensembles worn by families representing various cultures. Kids’ activities this year will include a scavenger hunt and even a goat-petting area.

Saavedra anticipates a turnout of more than 15,000 this year. Last year’s attendance was around 12,000—with more than 500 artists and performers and more than 120 volunteers helping to keep all the activities running smoothly. You can park in the main lot, at the neighboring Orlando Garden Club or in the parking garage across from the Orlando Science Center.

Loch Haven Cultural Park is located at 777 East Princeton Street, Orlando. For more information, call or visit the website.