Covington is set to be the host of the first Northern Kentucky Equinox — an Appalachian arts and heritage celebration.
Set for March 15 at the Baker Hunt Arts & Cultural Center in Covington, the festival is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the heritage and themes of Appalachian culture through activities such as live music, author readings, visual art demonstrations, hands-on workshops and food tastings. The event will be put on by the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition.
The festival serves as the final event in UACC’s yearlong Woven Branches series, which has brought arts workshops, retreats, performances and storytelling programs to Northern Kentucky neighborhoods.
“Urban Appalachians traditionally embrace the idea of everyone coming to the table to share,” Urban Appalachian Community Coalition core member Sherry Cook Stanforth said in a news release. “In the spirit of a good potluck, Woven Branches operates on the principle that each person in our city carries a meaningful, unique ingredient for our collective home place and migration experiences.”
The festival will feature several literary and spoken-word artists, including Melissa Helton, a 2023 James Baker Hall Book Award finalist; Cincinnati Poet Laureates Richard Hague and Pauletta Hansel; spoken-word artist MoPoetry Phillips; and members of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative: Scott Goebel, Rhonda Pettit, Roberta Schultz and Stanforth.
Artist demonstrations will include Michael Thompson, Jody Knoop, Plein Air Poetry and Magik Awakening. Folk music performers Tangled Roots and The Farmer & The Crow are also scheduled.
Hands-on activities will include zine-making, miniature watercolor painting, pottery wheel demonstrations, folklore activities, postcard poetry, songwriting prompts and a migration mural. An open mic session will be led by UACC Place Keepers Matt Farley, Alexandria Montgomery, Maira Faisal, Sheldon Livingston, Morgan Esterline, Elaine Ramage and Aubrey Stanforth, among others.
Heritage food tastings will be prepared in Baker Hunt’s kitchen.
Registration is available through Baker Hunt Arts & Cultural Center.