The seventh annual FandangObon Festival and Market will be held on Sunday, Oct. 6, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St. in Little Tokyo, the historic cultural crossroads of Boyle Heights and Bronzeville.
Hundreds of folks of all ages and cultures will celebrate connections to each other and Mother Earth. Free admission. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Great Leap’s FandangObon convenes into one circle the participatory music and dance traditions of Fandango of Vera Cruz, Mexico rooted in African, Mexican and indigenous music; Japanese Buddhist Obon circle dances in remembrance of ancestors; and West African dance and drums of Nigeria and New Guinea.
Quetzal Flores and Martha Gonzalez of Quetzal, Grammy-award winning band, along with other artist-activists, have helped spread the fandango throughout the U.S. Great Leap’s Nobuko Miyamoto has composed contemporary Obon pieces danced by over 10,000 people yearly at Obon festivals in Southern California. Nigerian Talking Drum Ensemble and Le Ballet Dembaya take West African dance into schools and communities throughout L.A.
For more information, visit www.greatleap.org.