BROAD FEST- A Free All Day Festival Comes to The Broad Stage Next Month

Broad Fest returns on Sunday, September 2, 2018. This free outdoor event features music and dance, activities for kids and adults, plus snacks, sweets and food available for purchase. Members and subscribers, local families, college students and arts enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy an array of musical performances, DJ music and dance floor, drumming, movies and more.

KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez brings his musical flare to this year's festival between exuberant performances by Jungle Fire serving up their musical recipe for Afro-Caribbean funk, presented with the generous support of Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl; Element Band & Ara Dabandjian with their melodic contemporary Armenian groove, and the all-female percussion and vocal group, Adaawe, blending African, R&B, Jazz, Latin and Reggae. The Edye Second Space will turn into a movie house with family friendly films from Hollywood Shorts after an interactive drum circle led by Anindo Marshall and Adaawe artists. On the dance floor, SMC Global Motion dancers, led by faculty member Bernard Keali'i Ceballos, demonstrate and teach social dances throughout the day.

Hit + Run Live Screen Printing will be back offering original t-shirt designs, Crayon Collection, SMC Art Department and The Broad Stage Education & Community Programs will each offer art making booths. A music instrument "petting zoo" Elemental Music and other activities round out the day.

Treats frozen yogurt will be back plus delicious food trucks from Border Grill and The Middle Feast.
The Broad Stage lobby concessions will also be open to purchase snacks, beer and wine throughout the day.

Admission is free; for information, a complete festival line-up and suggested RSVP, please visit thebroadstage.org/broadfest.

About the Artists

ANTHONY VALADEZ can be heard hosting Monday nights on KCRW in Los Angeles. He was voted Best DJ in LA by the LA Weekly Readers Poll in 2016. Valadez has traveled the country documenting festival experiences for FUSE TV in addition to hosting 3 seasons of Crate Diggers. He has opened for the likes of Prince, Bruno Mars, Jennifer Lopez, Sly Stone, Ben Harper, Little Dragon and more.

JUNGLE FIRE's highly infectious and explosive sound draws inspiration from the groundbreaking rhythm sections behind James Brown, Fela Kuti, Ray Barretto and Irakere. Their musical recipe consists of West African and Afro-Caribbean styles layered with heavy break-beat funk, all spiced with a dose of uniquely Angeleno grit.

ELEMENT BAND's greatest aspiration has been to apply new styles and innovation to the musical traditions of Armenia and beyond. Under the direction of Ara Dabandjian, the band's presents bold arrangements that mix rock melodies, traditional American, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, and Armenian renditions, as well as the warm sounds of the Mediterranean.

ADAAWE is an all women percussion and vocal group, creating an international fusion of African music, R&B/pop vocals, jazz funk, Latin and Reggae, steeped in Gospel harmonies. Based in Los Angeles, these well skilled musicians originate from Kenya, Morocco, Israel, Panama and across the United States.

HOLLYWOOD SHORTS is an organization devoted to showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe. Their film festival showcases the top 40- minutes or less short films. Categories include Short Animation, Short Live Action, Short Documentary, Music Video, Webisode, Commercials, Youth Film and Digital Microbudget.

SMC GLOBAL MOTION led by SMC faculty member BERNARD (KEALI'I) CEBALLOS shares cultural and social dances with festival goers on the plaza dance floor. BERNARD (KEALI'I) CEBALLOS is on the dance faculty of SMC and an internationally acclaimed teacher, dancer and choreographer. He is the Director of Halau Keali'i O Nalani, a Los Angeles based Halau Hula (Hula School) and teaches a variety of other dance forms including tango and salsa.

HIT+RUN HIT+RUN is the world's premier live screen printing experience. Attendees can personally interact with the screen printing process on-site to create their own unique pieces of wearable art. T-Shirts available for purchase at the festival.

CRAYON COLLECTION has a mission to inspire a commitment to environmental consciousness and the infusion of art education in underfunded schools.

ELEMENTAL MUSIC was created by a SMMUSD teacher to engage young players through ensembles from an early age, helping develop both technical and musical skills that prepare them for continued study at the middle and high school levels.

ART DEPARTMENT at Santa Monica College offers an extensive program in Studio Art, Art History and Design preparing students for upper division study or to earn an Associate of Arts degree.

EDUCATION & COMMUNITY PROGRAMS at The Broad Stage invites creative exchange and discovery. We believe access is key to developing a strong affinity for the arts, igniting a spark of innovation in each of us.

L.A. COUNTY FREE CONCERT PROGRAM provides funding through the Arts Commission and Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl to organizations presenting accessible, quality music programming that represents the diversity of the region.

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage

The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center opened its doors in October 2008. The Broad Stage is an artist's dream and an audience's delight. Unlike any performance space in the country, it is sublimely intimate with just over 500 seats and strikingly grand at the same time-allowing eye contact with artists from the boxes to the back row-forging a new kind of artist and audience experience in Los Angeles. Boasting one of the city's largest proscenium stages, The Broad Stage offers theatre, dance, film, opera, jazz, world music, musicals, symphony and chamber orchestras, family programming and more. Each genre features superlative talent from every generation and around the globe. No other performing arts center west of the 405 can boast such consistently stellar lineups of performers, including André Watts, Anna Netrebko, Sir James Galway, Sutton Foster, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Patti LuPone, Aaron Neville, Lee Ritenou, Dave Grusin, Joshua Redman, Lil Buck, Bobby McFerrin, Helen Hunt, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and many others.

In addition to The Broad Stage, The Edye, our 100-seat black box theater, presents new, developing and innovative work in theatre, music and dance as part of our Under the Radar Series, as well as offerings from our other genres. Featuring younger, emerging artists, chamber pieces and plays, programming at The Edye reflects the dynamic nature of the space and allows for the latest, most exciting artists to be booked on short notice. The Broad Stage's Education and Community Programs offer opportunities for cultural exposure through various student events, currently reaching more than 20,000 children, parents, educators and community members every year.

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