Media Engagement Center

Welcome to the Media Engagement Center for “Fusion Fest 6th Annual Multicultural Arts Festival”  a dedicated suite of resources and tools tailored for media professionals, partner organizations, and community influencers – to elevate the FusionFest storyline, “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.

CONTACT

Engage with our Team

ABOUT

Organizational impact & data

MEDIA KITS

ACCESS IMAGES & VIDEOS

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

ACCESS MEDIA ALERTS AND PRESS RELEASES

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

download opportunity kit

FusionFest Media Preview on November 13 from 6:30 to 7:30.  – featuring foods of the world and program highlight from the 2023 Fusion Fest – 6th Annual Multicultural Arts Festival. This one hour media-only event will showcase some of the culinary and cultural talent you’ll find at FusionFest and offer information for media engagement before and during the event. 

Press Releases

Upcoming Media Opportunities

November 13, 2023 – FusionFest Fest Media Preview Event – Foods of the World – Senf Plaza 6:30 to 7:30pm

November 25 and 26, 2023 – Access to festival with permission to record, broadcast, or photograph event. Credentialed media will check in at the Media Welcome Center.

Download Center

Show Your Support

HASHTAGS: #FusionFest #FusionFestOrlando #ICanBeMeHere #ProudToShowMyColors

About FusionFest 6th Annual Festival

 

Join us for Fusion Fest – 6th Annual Multicultural Arts Festival, on November 25 (10am to 8pm) and November 26th (12pm to 6pm) at Dr. Philips Center for the Performing Arts – Seneff Arts Plaza (445 S Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32801). Orlando’s Thanksgiving tradition, this FREE two-day extravaganza will draw an estimated 20,000. At FusionFest, we’re all about celebrating the rich tapestry of Central Florida’s diverse cultures with performers and presentations hailing from over 110 different cultures. Our mission is to showcase talents, share stories, drive innovation, and build a community founded on respect and understanding. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of music, dance, food, visual arts, spoken word, games, and interactive activities. 

Take a look at our Media Points Doc below – with easy-to-use,  preformed descriptions of OVER 30 exciting elements of FusionFest.

About FusionFest

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. FusionFest organizes 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.

FusionFest’s annual signature event is held each year on the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving Day in Downtown Orlando. It’s a  free, two-day, festival that drawing 20,000 people from more than 110 different cultures to experience music, dance, food, visual arts, spoken word, games and interactive activities.

Contact

Media Contact- Paula Wyatt – Paula@AnythingisPoshAble.com– 321-946-6565 (Text for Rapid Reply)

Spokesperson 

Terry Olson of the Orange County Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs  – Download Headshot – View Bio

Heritage and Cultural
Organizations Engagement Kit

From one nonprofit organization to another, thank you! Thank you for the important work your team is doing for the Central Florida community. Whether your mission is to – serve the underserved, elevate the message of inclusion, or illuminate the world through creativity – we’d love to help you! There are many ways to partner with FusionFest – and to elevate our collective missions.

Stay In Touch : Follow Us

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!