FYI Culture Fest @ Toronto Centre for the Arts, Toronto, ON - Sat Oct 1st!

URBAN MUSIC AND CULTURE TO BE SHOWCASED AT THE TORONTO CENTRE
FOR THE ARTS.

For Immediate Release

TORONTO – September 13, 2011 – As part of the 2011 pan-Canadian volunteer movement,
www.CultureDays.ca, FYI – Follow Your Instinct Arts Organization announces FYI Culture Fest inside the Toronto Centre For The Arts! FYI’s Culture Fest will help to raise awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians within urban creative arts and showcase the cultural life of their communities.

“It gives me great pleasure to use such a platform to showcase the impact urban music and culture has had on our community at large,” states Dwayne Dixon, founder of the not-for-profit FYI Arts Organization and current VP, of UMAC, The Urban Music Association of Canada.

FYI’s Culture Fest consists of 3 events which will launch on September 29th with a free Artist Appreciation Night (Part 1) inside Harlem Restaurant (67 Richmond Street East, Toronto), followed on October 01 by Above Par, a free round table discussion with some architects and prodigies of the urban music scene in Canada.

“Our panelists will provide a 360 degree view of urban music culture in Canada and how we've gone from having uber pride to low esteem right back to becoming the "new" hot spot for Urban Music period, not just in Canada” said Dixon. Lastly, closing out the Culture Fest is FYI Showcase (Part 3).

Since it’s launch 19 months ago, FYI Showcase has provided development and professional opportunities to several emerging and established artists, and has been instrumental in providing a consistent outlet for urban artists in this country. Music industry veteran, Aisha Wickham-Thomas will provide the Keynote Speech at The Showcase event on Saturday evening,

This three-part event will also see the official introduction of FYI Kids. FYI Kids provides enrichment programming aimed to reinforce and further develop confidence, self-esteem and stage presence in school-aged children through music, sport & culture. Included in their “culture” component, braille classes are offered to bring vision-health awareness to the fore. “Over the past 2 years we’ve had over
1000 children come thru our program and you’d be surprised just how far a little TLC can go” - Kirt Milligin, FYI Kids Program Director.

FYI Culture Fest will showcase the best local talent and community organizations across all 3 events and culminate with a 2 hour, interactive show that invites the public/audience to participate in Canadian urban culture and discover the world of urban artists, facilitators, and authors at work in their community.

“FYI Culture Fest” will give participants a taste of what it takes to become a professional performing/recording artist in the Urban Music Industry and highlight the powerful impact on it’s community.

Commenting on the free Artist Appreciation Night at Harlem, VP of Artist Relations at FYI Arts Organization, Candice Dixon says “since the very beginning, Harlem Restaurant has shown us tremendous support in our efforts to showcase urban music culture in a bright light, now it’s our turn to return the favour to our artists”

Part 1 – Artist Appreciation Night – Free Entrance at door (Harlem Restaurant, 67 Richmond Street East, Toronto, ON)

Part 2 – Above Par (Panel Discussion) – Free tickets are available online only via
www.abovepar.eventbrite.com

Part 3 – FYI Showcase: Tickets are available online at www.ticketmaster.ca or call 1-855-985-2787
(ARTS) to order tickets by phone (service charges apply)

Toronto Centre for the Arts is located at Toronto Centre for the Arts
5040 Yonge Street Toronto
Toronto, Ontario