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International Celebration with Food, Music & Entertainment
Saturday, May 24, 2008

Imperial Center
Emperor Blvd., Durham

Transport yourself to a festival to revive all your senses!

The Taste of Durham Festival creates a welcome mat for anyone seeking a quality place that transports you to a good place, great food, live music, and a slice of the good life infused with an international twist. Art and cultural themes and opportunities to celebrate the good life are woven into festival activities. This signature quality-driven festival offers a unique venue to showcase international and cultural entertainment, area restaurant food sampling, art and cultural experiences, venues for artist and musicians, activities for children, and a unique mix of interactive entertainment. The eclectic music lineup features known and emerging artists and a variety of music and international entertainment experiences with a contemporary approach.

Some highlights of main stage entertainment for 2008 include Jose Conde y Ola Fresca, featuring some of the best musicians in New York City, coming together for a fresh take on rootsy, funky, jazzy, Latin dance music; they have had amazing press, from N. Y .Times to NPR. Seth Walker: The driving delivery and infectious down-home style of his voice and songs resonate with Blues and Roots music. Having shared the stage with icons such as Ray Charles, B.B. King and Jimmie Vaughan, Walker has established himself in the music world as a unique and compelling performer. Walker delivers 'a different point of blue' in today's ever-changing world and his eclectic blend of outstanding guitar talent and rootsy, soul filled vocals will thrill any music fan. The Afromotive is a thundering 10-piece ensemble from Asheville, NC, escorting Afrobeat music into the modern age and taking the dance floor with them. They are fueled by a three-piece horn section and an unstoppable rhythm section and musical dance excursions. John Brown Jazz Orchestra: features a professional large jazz ensemble made up of some of North Carolina's top musicians. Specializing in performing traditional compositions from the Great American Songbook and today's cutting-edge arrangements, the orchestra performs a wide range of material covering all eras of jazz. The repertoire includes the music and arrangements of many jazz legends. A 13-15 piece horn section backed by a 3-5 piece rhythm section and complemented by male and female vocalists make this a powerhouse ensemble!

Each year brings a new festival segment to spice up your "good life" experience at the festival. Keep checking the website for updates and entertainment lineup. We will continue in our tradition to bring quality national, regional, and local performers and other international and cultural music genres and performers, ethnic dance demonstrations, and unique interactive celebrations like the New Orleans-style Mardi Gras Parade. The festival also is a welcoming platform to support talented and diverse artists and musicians from all walks of the "world." Extra-special events are in store for the kids. Interactive activities and internationally focused performers, dancers, and entertainers are just some of the many exciting plans.

Each year we designate spaces for a cross-selection of various types and styles of restaurants, caterers, and food-related companies to create an eclectic variety of food sampling. Our invitations are based on quality, variety, reputation, professionalism, creative cuisine, and just plain good food! Savor the gourmet, home-style, and international food samples from area food establishments. Some of the best local chefs, restaurateurs, and creative caterers will showcase their talents with demonstrations and offer a wide assortment of food samples to please any palate.

The Community Chest, Inc. welcomes guests to experience a topnotch destination festival that truly serves the communities. TCC hopes the ambiance and festivities will provide a sense of haven and, possibly, a taste of heaven.

The Taste of Durham Festival is a unique festival format unlike any attraction in the Triangle area. The Festival is produced by The Community Chest, Inc., (501-c-3) a nonprofit organization with passionate commitments to serve community interests and enrichments. Our commitment is to create a festival with distinction and to showcase high-quality entertainment and activities. It is our hope that this type of platform will create bridges toward appreciation, respect, and understanding of diverse cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, and welcomed people that live within your community and beyond. Just hanging around together in pleasant surroundings can do wonders for human relations. These projects are small steps toward a greater vision. The Community Chest, Inc. welcomes guests to experience a topnotch destination festival that truly serves the communities. TCC hopes the ambiance and festivities will provide a sense of haven and, possibly, a taste of heaven.
Tickets:
General Admission is $4 in advance and $6 at the festival.
Coins for food and beverages and tickets for wine and beer tastings are sold separately.
Advance tickets sold at Triangle-wide Harris Teeters. Time: 11am to 7pm
Photo Gallery Archive

Visit our photo gallery!
Each slide show section will take you on a virtual tour of the 2005 & 2006 festivals.
Savor the side order of sounds with a click of the music sample buttons. Enjoy!
Revive Your Senses: Taste, Touch, Listen, Look, Breath and
Experience the Good Life ©
The Good Life (thê good lif) adj, n, v   1. a relative terminology used by The Community Chest, Inc. to create platforms and experiential gathering places to explore vast and accessible opportunities to enjoy life. 2.These are pathways and bridges toward respecting cultural diversity, gaining awareness of community members beyond geographical boundaries, and becoming a participant to create solutions to enrich lives.
Pick up a May 2008 Issue of Bon Appétit to see a highlight of Tastes of Durham
To fully appreciate the ambiance and activities is to experience it for yourself.
Click selections below for details

The Music:

» Main Stage Performances

» Taste of Jazz and Blues

» Performance Showcase Stage

» International Dance Performances

The Food:

» Area Restaurant Food Sampling

» International Wine Tasting Pavilion

» International Beer Tasting Garden

» Triangle Chef Demonstrations

The Festivities:

» Kids Entertainment & Cultural Fun

» Ice Sculpture Carving Contest

» Art is Alive - Artist Exhibit

  AND SO MUCH MORE!

press release
The power of a quality gathering place.
Taste of Durham May 24th 2008 The third annual Taste of Durham Festival (TOD) in 2007 was another overwhelming success at its new location at the Imperial Center in Durham, NC, a 485-acre business complex managed by Tri Properties, Inc. Up to 18,000 guests gathered to experience the ambiance and festivities at the topnotch destination festival, the first project produced by the Community Chest, (TCC). TCC is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that supports community enrichments with innovative and distinctive project-based initiatives. The festival's new site resolved many logistical issues by providing more space to accommodate the growth in attendance, offering greater accessibility, and allowing proper timing and space for set up, parking, security, traffic blockades, and other crucial logistics. Planning has begun for 2008. The festival will be hosted at the same location, and TCC is always striving to improve each year. | Read Full Releasae
media coverage
Organizer wants Taste of Durham to gain southern appeal with move The News & Observer, Saturday May 19, 2007 - "Exponentially better and bigger" - according to founder Kim Ruskan - the third Taste of Durham Festival happens next Saturday, with bands, food samples, arts and crafts, ice sculpting and a Mardi Gras parade. | Read Full Story
TASTE OF SUCCESS - Growing popularity moves annual Durham festival to a new location The Herald Sun, Friday May 25, 2007 - The taste of success means a new geographical flavor for the annual Taste of Durham Festival. For its first two years, the festival centered around Brightleaf Square downtown. This year, it's moving to a larger location. "We grew out of it the very first year," Kimberly M. Ruskan said of the Brightleaf area. Ruskan founded a nonprofit, The Community Chest Inc., specifically to put on the cultural event that features wine, beer and food tastings as well as music and dance performances. | Read Full Story
Taste of Durham's flavors, sounds please all palettes The Herald Sun, Sunday May 27, 2007 - A mass of people from all walks of life turned out Saturday for the relocated annual Taste of Durham Festival. Unlike past versions at Brightleaf Square in the city center, this year's festivities were held in the parking lot of an upscale office complex off Interstate 40 near Raleigh-Durham International Airport. | Read Full Story
Taste of Durham Delicious at New Site The News & Observer, Sunday May 27, 2007 - The Taste of Durham scenery changed from brick tobacco warehouses to brick office buildings Saturday after the festival moved from downtown to a corporate office park near the Wake County line. But few seemed to notice between bites. | Read Fulll Story
good news
"Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it." - Wilferd Peterson

Positive and uplifting information, highlight charities and good works, etc.

Creative Collaborations to Enrich Community
Mark your calendar for Taste of Durham Festival in a new location!

Celebrating the good life can do good things for Durham, The Community Chest (TCC) believes. The nonprofit organization produces the Taste of Durham Festival, a quality-driven festival offering a unique venue to showcase international and cultural entertainment, area restaurant food sampling, art and cultural experiences, venues for artists and musicians, activities for children, and a unique mix of interactive entertainment. | Read Full Story

Read Other Good News Stories


TROSA
(Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers, Inc.)

Founded in 1994, TROSA is a nonprofit organization in Durham that provides a comprehensive two-year residential program for individuals recovering from substance abuse. In addition to learning to live free of their addictions, TROSA gives residents the opportunity to advance their education, gain vocational skills, improve their interpersonal skills, and learn how to re-enter the larger community. | Read Full Story

Read Other Good News Stories


Inviting Sponsors and Community Partners for 2008

Major Sponsors

Emerald Sponsors
Sapphire Sponsors
Magazine Sponsors
Grants

• The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation

Business Sponsors

• BOOM! Magazine

• TROSA

Special Thanks
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