Thanks a ZIIIIILION to Diane & Waldo...our Fearless Leaders!
(i gotta get a clip board.)

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The first annual Unity Festival will be held on Sunday August 20, 2000 at The Sanctuary (corner of Maryland Pkwy and Charleston). This will be an all day event, with proceeds going to benefit The Shade Tree Shelter as well as The Las Vegas Chapter of Anti - Racist Action. Additional proceeds will also be donated to the son of Lin "Spit" Newborn. Newborn was murdered along with Daniel Shersty in 1998 during a hate crime.

This is an all day event starting at 1:00pm. Several non-profit organizations around the Las Vegas Valley will be on hand to support the event. Booths will include Free Radio Las Vegas, Panic Inc., Worldfolk, Las Vegas ARA, LasVegasLocalMusic.com, Citizen Alert and many more. The bands scheduled to perform are: Total Chaos, Pummel, The Dalians, Trucker Crank, The Chumps, No Room For Fuzzy, The Sweathogs, The Joynt Chiefs, H. Pylori, Face Plant and Goldfish Don't Bounce.

The purpose of the event is to raise money and awareness in order to fight against racism, promote local music and aid organizations that have fought to promote unity and equality in our community. This show will hope to show once and for all that local music and cultural awareness in our community is not obsolete.

"We hope to open people's eyes to the fact that Las Vegas does have a tight knit, grass roots community and a music scene that promotes unity and equality," says Diane Wiggins, the festival's lead coordinator. "I would like this music festival to bring about change within our community and show that there are not silent voices to issues that matter."

Preparation for the festival took nearly three months worth of work, bringing together the efforts of many local nonprofit organizations, bands, businesses and a plethora of hard working volunteers. Organizers hope to make this a yearly event within the Las Vegas Valley.

"Other cities and towns have shown they can band together and promote causes of importance to their communities," says events coordinator Andy "Waldo" Holtmann. "Often times issues and unity fall by the wayside due to apathy, despite the hard working efforts of many who have devoted their time and energy to such causes. We want to prove that this community can unite and take a stand."

There will be food and beverages on hand as well as literature about local organizations and items for sale. Those taking part are excited about the event's potential for success.

"I think this is a great way to get positive messages out to our community," says Cyndi Cheyenne, a local Anti-Racist Action member. "Las Vegas is such a transient city that many times, important issues are easily forgotten. Through this festival, we stand a good chance of getting those positive messages back out into our community and making them stick."

for more info contact diane at: