{"id":21614,"date":"2021-09-22T05:30:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T09:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=21614"},"modified":"2021-08-31T11:46:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T15:46:36","slug":"concrete-love-ashevilles-leaf-downtown-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/22\/concrete-love-ashevilles-leaf-downtown-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Concrete Love: Asheville’s LEAF Downtown Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

This feature was the cover story of <\/i>Mountain Xpress\u2019s August 25, 2021 issue, previewing the LEAF Downtown Festival.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

A defining feature of Asheville\u2019s modern history is its festivals. From late July through September, the city has been host to a dazzling array of outdoor festivals celebrating music, arts and \u2013 most of all \u2013 community. Some, like Bele Chere, have come and gone. Yet many remain: Goombay, Shindig on the Green, the Greek Festival, the Big Crafty and the Hard Lox Festival, to name but a few. But in recent years, perhaps the grandest of all local cultural festivals has been LEAF Downtown. The 6th<\/sup> Annual LEAF Downtown Festival happens August 27 and 28.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2015, LEAF Downtown built upon the successful foundation of the twice-annual LEAF Global Arts Festival in Lake Eden. LEAF Downtown expanded the nonprofit organization\u2019s core mission of celebrating the tapestry of cultural traditions that enliven music and the arts. LEAF Downtown presents the key components of the bigger festival, but in a style and format that \u2013 by virtue of its location and free admission \u2013 embraces even more fully the community component.<\/p>\n

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Like most all public events, LEAF Downtown skipped the 2020 season. But it\u2019s back for 2021, and organizers have put together a program immersed in many musical styles. Scheduled performers for the two-day event include funk band Newcleus, Grandmaster Caz, and Secret Agency featuring Asheville\u2019s own Cactus. The festival\u2019s local focus is showcased by WNC artists including Billy Jonas, storyteller Roy Harris, Billy Jonas, Free Planet radio, West Sound, Kayla Lynn and others.<\/p>\n

Every LEAF Downtown has a theme, and this year it\u2019s \u201cconcrete love.\u201d The event\u2019s performing arts coordinator Otto Vazquez explains the phrase. \u201cWe come from our other festivals and retreats at Lake Eden\u2019s natural settings, and now we’re bringing it back to the city of Asheville, to the concrete park. And after what we all experienced last year, we want to bring love \u2013 a sense of togetherness and community, love you can build on \u2013 back to Asheville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even beyond the festival, LEAF has long displayed a commitment to bringing those qualities to Asheville. The pandemic forced the temporary closure of LEAF\u2019s brick-and-mortar museum and storefront mere days after they opened in spring 2020. Vazquez says that both survived thanks to \u201ca lot of strategic planning.\u201d He says that LEAF executive director Jennifer Pickering \u201cmade some really smart decisions to prolong the life of the organization. We\u2019re still being cautious, but we\u2019re thriving again.\u201d<\/p>\n

That caution makes sense, as the pandemic isn\u2019t over. Vazquez expresses his belief that mask wearing is becoming the \u201cnew norm, and I\u2019m cool with it.\u201d He\u2019s also cool with those who aren\u2019t<\/i> cool with it, emphasizing that because LEAF Downtown is an outdoor event, social distancing is possible. \u201cWe want people to feel safe, have a good time, and continue to enjoy live music,\u201d he says. \u201cThey can continue to enjoy their lives, regardless of what we’re dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acclaimed Asheville storyteller Elder Roy Harris will preside over the festival\u2019s opening ceremony, and his Story Time event on Friday afternoon will be a highlight of the festival. At LEAF Downtown and in his role as a board member of the Black Storytellers Association, Harris says that his goal is \u201cto open storytelling up to the next generation.\u201d His credo emphasizes the universal character of storytelling and the oral tradition: \u201cMy story is your story, your story is their story, and their story is our story,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re going in a circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performing with her band The Change, singer, songwriter and electric bassist Kayla Lynn will be featured as part of Saturday\u2019s entertainment lineup. She\u2019ll also play a set with her mom, Melissa McKinney, and with festival openers King Garfield & Funkin\u2019 Around. Lynn has been involved with LEAF since 2016, when she was still in high school. \u201cI was invited to play the festival, and I never left,\u201d she quips. Today she\u2019s a LEAF resident teaching artist. \u201cI hope people come to LEAF Downtown and get exposed to new music, art and ideas,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope it opens their minds and hearts to other people and other cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asheville had its period of turmoil last year,\u201d Vazquez acknowledges. And he sees LEAF Downtown as part of the way forward. \u201cMusic, dance and entertainment have a healing aspect,\u201d he says. \u201cThat’s what this event \u2013 and all our events \u2013 are going to do. They’re going to heal the community, put people back into a state of mind that says, \u2018We’re going to get through this. We’re going to have fun, and we’re going to be safe.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature was the cover story of Mountain Xpress\u2019s August 25, 2021 issue, previewing the LEAF Downtown Festival. A defining feature of Asheville\u2019s modern history is its festivals. From late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,44],"tags":[237,4642],"class_list":["post-21614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-live-shows","tag-asheville","tag-leaf-downtown","cat-41-id","cat-44-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21616,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21614\/revisions\/21616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}