June 26th, 2009

Who: DiverseArts Culture Works in collaboration with participating East End Businesses
What: Live music, food, vending, and kids programming at East End Fourth Fridays!
Where: Kenny Dorham's Backyard, 1106 East 11th Street Austin, TX 78702
When: June 26th. Gates OPEN at 6PM
Cost: Free children’s activities from 6 to 8PM. $5 cover for the live music beginning at 8PM (no charge for children under 12)

DiverseArts welcomes Big Chief Kevin and the Flaming Arrows as our featured performers this month. Big Chief Kevin and the Flaming Arrows, originally from New Orleans, now call Austin home and spread Creole inspired funk music and that special New Orleans soul all around town. A part of the Mardi Gras Indians, the band dresses in elaborate Native American garb during their energetic performances.

The Noel Bros Jazztet will begin the live music for the evening. They are gifted performers in the Huston-Tillotson jazz ensemble and hail from the rich music community of Memphis, Tennessee. The New Movement, a local comedy troupe, will also be performing for us this month. After their performance, they will set up a table with information about opportunities in The New Movement's summer comedy acting program for kids.

Children will have free activities just for them at the East End Fourth Friday Kid’s Corner including free books, hot dogs, an arts and crafts table, and more. Our special guests at the Kid’s Corner this month are Destiny by Design, selected members from Kealing Junior High’s hip-hop performance and recording program.

As always, we will have barbeque, fresh, cold beer courtesy of Live Oak Brewery, and live music. Local art vendors, including Cynthia Brown, Gretchen Grimm, and Kathy Sahagian, will be displaying and selling their beautiful art. We invite you to explore the East End and discover some of the new businesses and old favorites that help make this district a unique and diverse place in Austin.

Austin’s East End Fourth Fridays! is a unique art and culture-driven, monthly community-oriented event developed by DiverseArts to showcase the very specific cultural attributes and historical identity of Austin’s East End – the Soul in the heart of the City. The East End has been recognized by the City of Austin as an African American Cultural Heritage District, and East End Fourth Fridays! helps showcase this cultural legacy for the benefit of the community. In partnership with neighborhood artists and businesses, cultural, civic, commercial, and governmental groups, this monthly event is designed to bring a relaxed, communal, open air art and culture experience to the newly revitalized East End.

It's an open house in the East End and along East 11th Street! Sample food and drink at established and new venues, take in the headline concerts and bring the kids to enjoy the East End Kid’s Corner at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard, and check out art vendors, organizations, and sponsors doing PR and public outreach. DiverseArts wishes to bring visitors from the neighborhood and the Austin area to see the unique cultural and historic aspects of the East End. We hope to establish East End Fourth Fridays! as a holistic, community-based marriage of culture and commerce, and we can't do it without your support! So come and join us, your fellow Austinites, and people from all places, for this monthly event!

So bring the whole family for a fun, exciting evening in East Austin!

We'll see you there!