CAFE 2009/ Cultural Arts Festival & Expo

CHOOSE JUST ONE EVENT, MAYBE THREE, OR ATTEND THEM ALL!!!

Cabaret at CAFE:  The Official Kick Off Show of CAFE 2009! Hosted by Elaine Taylor, featuring Paris LeFaris and the South East's most talented female and male drag superstars at The Cabaret/ 1101 Harden Street/ Columbia, SC  29205.  Doors open at 11:00pm.  Show starts at 11:30pm.

Our Stories, Our Voices:  Literary Forum, Reading, and Book Signing featuring 2009 QMocha Book Club Authors Glen Collins, Clarence Nero, and Mike Warren in the Vista Room at the SC State Museum. Special guest panelist from Atlanta-based Kings Crossing Publishing Company.  Free admission, though registration is required.  Doors open at 9:30am.  Forum begins at 10:00am.

QMocha's Got Talent:  Talent Competition in the SC State Museum Auditorium. Doors open at 12:30pm. Show starts at 1:00pm.   Featuring entertainment by Comedian/Musician/Dancer MALACHI and Dance Phenom Angel Pariz!  Interested in being a part of the competition, email us at talent@qmocha.com

Spit Fire Poetry Showcase:  Spoken Word Poetry Showcase featuring "Venom" from 100.1 Da Beat along with a long list of the Southeast's hottest LGBT and straight/allied poets!  Hosted by Columbia's own "Street Poet" in the SC State Museum's Vista Room. Doors open at 3:30pm. Show starts at 4pm.

For the Love of Harlem:  The highly acclaimed stage play performed by the Carolinas Black Pride Movement in the SC State Museum Auditorium. Doors open at 7:30pm. Show begins promptly at 8:00pm. Doors will remain closed after 8:15pm.

The musical "For the Love of Harlem," written, directed and scored by Jermaine Nakia Lee, is a combination of comedy, poetry, dance and period music; profiling the lives of some of the brightest artistic visionaries of the Harlem Renaissance.  Figures like Wallace Thurman, Alberta Hunter, Richard Bruce Nugent, Bessie Smith, Countee Cullen, A'lelia Walker, Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes are given real human faces.  Their struggles - especially regarding sexuality - between public recognition and devotion to being true to one's self tells a story many people have never heard.

*In 2006, "For the Love of Harlem" was nominated 'Theatre Event of the Year' by Creative Loafing Charlotte Magazine.

Soul Food & Salsa Sunday:  In conjunction with CAFE 2009, South Carolina Black Pride presents an evening of tasty entrees and cool drinks.  Learn about SC Black Pride 2010, play games, and watch old movies.  Drop in time is from 6:00 - 9:00pm at the Harriet Hancock Center/ 1108 Woodrow Street/ Columbia, SC 29205.  Free admission, though registration is requested for catering purposes.