The Fuerte Arts & Advocacy Organization, Cinema Society AZ and Shadow Flower Studios collaborated to put on “A Spring Arts Community Festival” on Feb. 22, hosted by the Let It Roll Bowl and Entertainment Center in Phoenix.
The event, which transformed the small bowling alley into the likes of a Hollywood production, featuring a fashion show, car show, a variety of dancers, various clothing and art vendors, comedians, music from live acts and DJs, and more.
Over seventy attendants packed into the bleachers and other seating areas inside the venue to watch the various performances throughout the night.
Let It Roll hosting the festival was no coincidence. One of the main events was the premiere of Cinema Society AZ’s documentary on the owner of the entertainment center, titled, “Who Is Stacy Anderson? A Let It Roll! Documentary.”
Cinema Society AZ, a film group associated with Glendale Community College, first pitched the idea of the festival to Stacy months ago when they were working on the documentary. Stacy, who is no stranger to hosting events like these, having collaborated with other charities and organizations in the past, was all ears.
“This is what really brings joy to me in regard to the venue.” Stacy said. “Having that many people come together of every background I think is unique and I’m excited about that.”
Fuerte, a non-profit organization who helped organize the festival, advocates for housing and environmental justice in Arizona and uses art to spread its message.
“The Fuerte Arts Movement is an organization that was started because we need artists, we need music, we need performers, we need fashion designers in this movement, so that we can stand up to corporate landlords and corporations that have bought up about 30% of Arizona’s housing supply.” Said Lupe Conchas, Program Director at Fuerte and City Councilmember of Glendale.
At the event, volunteers from Fuerte were asking attendants of the festival to sign a petition advocating for lower rent prices.
The festival was entirely volunteer-based. Karan “K” Goria, the president of Cinema Society AZ and Shadow Flower Studios who managed the event, brought many of the performers and vendors in through personal connections: local dancers were recruited by Deserae McCall, owner of Dezitall Dance and Yoga, the models were recruited by a fashion influencer K knew from high school, and the art for sale was made by several local artists based around Phoenix, some of which were also members of Cinema Society AZ or Fuerte.
“It’s a ton of work, but everyone’s come together really well.” K said.
One artist, Isabella Rivera, said she stayed up until 4 in the morning the day before the festival working on a painting to display.
“We’re all pulling all-nighters for this,” Rivera said.
As a part of the festival, Let It Roll allowed vendors to set up booths both inside, and out in the parking lot without having to pay any sort of fee. One vendor, Katerina (Kat) Dicker, expressed her gratitude.
“This is my first event because normally places charge fees for tables and booths, so it’s made me feel priced out.” Kat said. “But If this goes well, I can actually do this as a vendor sometimes so it’s really cool.”
The festival was not without its shortfalls. Multiple people cancelled the day of the event. Certain acts had to be pushed back due to unexpected delays, and technological issues made it difficult to hear some of the performers. Organizers, volunteers, and members of Cinema Society AZ were frantically running around in the hours leading up to the festival trying to get set up in time.
Despite the setbacks, everyone involved in the planning of the festival remained pleased with how it turned out and said they hope to get the chance to do it again in the future.
“It was beautiful to see.” Stacy said at the end of the night. “This may be the first of many.”
Edited by Shi Bradley, Wendy Maddox
