The 20th Annual Americana World Festival: Where Louisville Meets the World is quickly approaching!  Join us on June 5th from 11am-9pm to celebrate the diversity in our community.

We are excited to announce an exciting day full of music and dance guaranteed to impress. The schedule is as follows:

11:00am: Cheryl Pan, Chinese
11:45am: Abatimbo, Burundi
12:15pm: United Abunzeubumwe, Burundi
1:30pm: Sudanese Rebaba Project, Sudanese
3:00pm: Kyene Drum Ensemble, West Africa
4:00pm: Sommer, Iraq
5:00pm: AppaLatin, Bluegrass/Latin fusion
6:00pm: Cypher Divine, Hip Hop
7:00pm: Coco Yam Band, Afro-Caribbean
8:15pm: Salsa Rhythms, Puerto Rican   

The 20th Annual Americana World Festival is on June 5th from 11am-9pm.  Clear your day now and gather your family and friends, this is not a day you will want to miss out on!

You can start the day off by talking to some great local non-profits and learning about the community we live in and resources we share.  Head over to the stage area where you are guaranteed to be impressed by the international sounds and sights from a variety of musical performances.  Let your children bounce around in our multiple bounce houses and make sure to stop by the Dunk Tank to soak your favorite ACC staff person!  Head over to see what ValuMarket and other food vendors will be cooking up for lunch and don't forget to buy your raffle tickets before you leave! 

Come see Americana Fiberworks at their first craft fair of the season! The 43rd Annual Art in the Arbor festival will be held Saturday, May 8th from 10am-6pm and Sunday, May 9th 10am-5pm at the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church located at 4936 Brownsboro Rd. Come support all the work the Fiberworks participants have been doing!

Census forms will begin arriving in mailboxes across the country this week.  Asking just 10 questions and taking about 10 minutes to complete, do not miss this opportunity to make sure you and your family are accounted for! Only one form needs to be filled out per household.

What is the Census? 

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States. Participation is required by law, and you are encouraged to mail back your completed forms as soon as possible.  The Census will ask you questions about the number of people living in your home, their ages, race, sex, date of birth, and telephone number. 

The Census DOES NOT ask for your name, address or Social Security numbers. Your information is kep confidential and will not be shared with anyone.   

Hundreds of community members attended the Mayoral Candidate's Forum this past Monday evening at Americana.  The forum could be heard in four different languages as eight of fourteen candidates answered questions first provided by many of Louisville's ethnic leaders and then by audience members.  Check out highlights and photos from the Courier Journal. A big thanks to all those who came out to participate in American and Americana style democracy.

Candidates for the 2010 mayoral election have been invited to attend a community forum at the Americana Community Center on March 8th from 6:30-8:00PM.  Ethnic leaders and other members of the international community in Louisville will be in attendance.

Candidates will address the attendees and outline their vision for the community under their administration.
The forum will be an interactive question and answer session, focusing first on the questions of ethnic community leaders and later on questions of the attendees. “We want to make sure that they know what the community needs are,” said Joseph Twagilimana, President of the Rafiki Club, a local Rwandan group. “They are here to serve the community and sometimes our needs are not addressed by leaders.”

Candidates from the Democratic, Republican, and Independent parties have been invited.

The Americana Community Center would like to give a huge thank you to all the volunteers who came out to volunteer on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  By deciding to make it a day on instead of a day off, volunteers were able to help staff in a number of projects, including painting, cleaning, and organizing around the Center.  A special thanks goes to the University of Louisville, State Farm Insurance, and Carrell Rogers Cleaning & Restoration for sending over 40 volunteers!    

 Edgardo Mansilla, Executive Director, will be a guest speaker at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. The theme this year is “On Being A Good Neighbor” and he will be speaking about issues related to immigration. The event starts  at the Presbyterian Center, 100 Witherspoon St and will later move to the Waterfront Park and the Mid-Kentucky Presbytery office. You can find more information on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) website.

The Courier-Journal visited our holiday party and posted some excellent pictures of ACC in action. A very big thanks to all the volunteers, staff, donors and families that made this possible as well as to the Courier-Journal and anyone else who shared a little of their holidays with us.