Deadline approaching to include exhibits in the festival Gallery Walk

In 2003 the Bowling Green International Festival, under the artistic direction of Andee Rudloff, expanded its visual art components to include a Gallery Walk the Friday night before each festival.  Downtown area art galleries and businesses will feature foreign culture themed exhibits again this year, hosting receptions from 5-9 pm on September 18.

Artists and/or venues interested in participating can find more information by visiting bginternationalfest.com/events/gallery_walk and downloading the Gallery Walk Application.  Application deadline is August 15, 2009.

The 2009 Gallery Walk Chair is Andee Rudloff.  To learn more about Andee visit her website and blog at www.chicnhair.com or friend her on MySpace or Facebook.

2009 Festival theme: “One World, Many Faces” announced

The theme for the 2009 Bowling Green International Festival is “One World, Many Faces”.

Festival Board members and community planners choose the theme by voting between the top suggestions from previous meetings and public suggestions.  One World, Many Faces was actually a late addition to the list and resulted from the combining of suggestions by Gallery Walk Chair, Andee Rudloff and Board Member Larry Caillouet.

The festival theme is used each year for the Poster Contest and to inspire committee members for free children’s activities, pinatas and entertainment as well as artists participating in the Gallery Walk.

Suggestions for the 2010 BG International Festival can be made on our Facebook page.

Festival loses city funding, turns hope to individual supporters

The Bowling Green International Festival learned this week that along with other nonprofit agencies, they must find money expected from the City elsewhere. Traditionally the City funding represented 1/3 of the festival budget, however that had been decreasing in the past few years (from $10,000 through the 90’s to $6,000 in 2008).

With the loss of City funding as well as the declining gifts of local businesses due to their own loss of discretionary funds, the festival is looking to festival attendees and supporters to help maintain the event.

Several ways which individual can support the festival include: making an individual donation and recruiting supporters to our Facebook and Myspace cause pages, buying merchandise in our online store, buying and/or selling coupon cards, becoming a sponsor or buying an ad in the festival newspaper.

Those who cannot afford to donate can still help the festival by becoming a fan, friend or follower on their favorite social network site (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or our blog) and helping to promote the festival.

Visit the festival’s website for more information.

Read more about how local agencies are effected by the City funding announcement in the Daily News.

2009 Festival Date

The 2009 festival will take place Saturday September 26, 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Circus Square Park in Bowling Green KY.