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Free Multicultural Festival

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Annual Festival Program 2024
FusionFest Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the mission to celebrate the people and the many different cultures that make Central Florida awesome by showcasing talents, sharing stories, driving innovation and building community based on respect and understanding. FusionFest is a project of the Orange County Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.

We are showing the world that people of different cultures and lifestyles can live together on a basis of love and respect.

Fun For All

Experiences for You

We organize weekly and monthly, both virtual and in-person, events that keep the community engaged and connected to the cultural diversity in Central Florida. We participate in parades and create dining experiences and workshops from January to November.

Our signature event on Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving Day in Downtown Orlando is a free, two-day, festival that draws people from more than 110 different cultures to experience music, dance, food, visual arts, spoken word, games and interactive activities.

Fun, food, stories, dance, music, arts & culture for all ages.

Thank You to

Our Sponsors & Grantors

FusionFest Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the mission to celebrate the people and the many different cultures that make Central Florida awesome by showcasing talents, sharing stories, driving innovation and building community based on respect and understanding. FusionFest is a project of the Orange County Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. 
EIN 85-2245857

Inclusion Sponsors

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SAVE THE DATE

6th Annual Multicultural Festival

Downtown Orlando, 25 - 26 November, 2023

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
445 S Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL

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FusionFest Inc.

EIN: 85-2245857

Charitable Solicitation Registration #CH64442

A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services by calling Toll-Free 800-435-7352 within the State. Registration does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the State.

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STELLA ARBELAEZ

Heritage: Colombia

 

Coming from a well-educated family and a good elementary education in Bogotá, Colombia, where she was considered “too energetic,” Stella’s family sent her, and her mother to the US to better afford higher education for all her siblings. She came to Queens, NY, where an aunt owned a gas station. During her high School years, although she was not fluent in English, she was accepted into an arts high school.  After completing a BFA in Fine Arts Illustration, she continued with art classes and worked in the design field. That eventually led to a position with Walt Disney Animation in Orlando.

 

Her family suffered a number of tragedies – her father was killed in Colombia, her mother was killed in the US, her sister was dying of cancer.

 

Through the Disney connection she met a Californian and moved there to get married. After the birth of her daughter, she pursued a degree in early childhood education and devoted her life to her family. Her husband and his friends did not speak Spanish. She was not allowed to speak Spanish at the dinner table, and gradually lost touch with her Colombian heritage. She became a surprisingly “well- adapted” exotic person, rather than a true representation of her culture. An annual trip to a Colombian restaurant for her birthday and trips to visit her relatives in South Florida were the sole ties to Colombian culture.

 

While visiting her extended family in Florida, her marriage ended traumatically. This sent her into a couple of years of dark depression and self-condemnation. For her 48th birthday, she joined a Meet-Up group for a 4-day hike to the Appalachian Trail. “With every step I took”, she recalls, “I felt more alive. I felt the blood rush to my legs and my heart pumping to get me through the next mile.” Hiking the Florida National Scenic Trail in 2020, while reflecting on the person she had been, the person she now was, and the person she still wanted to be, led her back to art. Her mantra became, “Nature heals.”

Also, visiting her extended family in South Florida, she felt enveloped by the love and warmth of her childhood in Colombia with dance parties where they would dance salsa, merengue, and cumbia until the wee hours of the night, reveling in their festive traditions. Her little dog, Bobo, is a faithful companion.

MICHEAL ELLIOTT

Hi there, I am a writer, director & cinematographer local to the St.Pete area. I have worked on short films, commercials, and a couple of feature films, mainly in the camera or lighting department. I have also worked on several passion projects like “The Beat Within,” which was a short documentary following a women-led drum circle in Dunedin. I was an editor for a few years prior to trying my hand at shooting, so I shoot with the edit in mind. I am a South African-born immigrant who moved to the United States to study business management but fell in love with filmmaking and telling stories after being here for a few years. My direction changed from economics to making movies and telling stories. I believe documentary work is vital and important in current media and entertainment, especially to tell the stories of those who do not have a voice and are under represented. I would love to participate in your event and look forward to the challenge and excitement!