Business Highlights

For the last 22 years, the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival has created a space for residents and tourists alike to engage in the rich variety of cultures embodying the essence of Nashville. According to the World Population Review, Nashville has one of the fastest growing populations in the country. So much so, the current foreign-born population in Nashville has tripled over the last ten years to 12% of the city’s residents. In a city this diverse, the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival is not only one the city’s most vibrant events, but also an essential opportunity for cross-cultural learning and community togetherness.

Each year, this free, family-friendly festival upholds its mission to “celebrate and embrace” cultural diversity. The festival is made up of six themed areas: Global Villages, World Market, Teens! United, Nashville Metro Village, The Children’s Area, and of course – the food!

The Global Village offers an authentic look at the customs and traditions of the participating cultures, while the World Market is a gathering place for various nonprofits and service organizations that support and benefit the diversity in our community. The Oasis Center, a local, community-based youth empowerment organization, arranges Teens! United, an area that allows teens to create and perform pieces reflecting their lifestyle and heritage. The Nashville Metro Village area highlights talents & traditions alongside the Children’s Area – a highly interactive area that has something for every age!  The Children’s Area Stage has interactive music and dance programs throughout the day. Attendees can visit each area to gain an inside look at customs and traditions that are present in the City of Nashville.

Featuring five stages with an assortment of performances, the liveliness of the festival stimulates the senses with representation from countries all over the world, including Panama, India, Ethiopia, Japan, Madagascar, India, Norway, Turkey, Mexico and Bolivia just to name a few! Costumed dancers, storytelling and music, ethnic aromas converging in the air and delicious mouth-watering bites from over 50 food vendors. Try exotic items like Baklava, Basil Stir Fry, Fried Plantains, Naan, Tamales, Lemonades, Sorbets and even Nashville’s Hot Chicken!

In addition to offering this event at no cost to the public, the Festival provides an opportunity for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs, Performers and Artists, Non-profit and Service Related Organizations to gain exposure for their invaluable businesses, products, services and art to be discovered by consumers of the Greater Nashville Community. All participants are encouraged to focus on the celebration of the arts, music, food, dance, and traditional representations of culture through understanding, appreciation and respect for diversity.

The impact the day-long event’s festival atmosphere has on families is reflected by Randa Abdel-Fattah’s comment, “For me, festivals and celebrations have become an important way to teach my children about how we can transform living with diversity from the superficial ‘I eat ethnic food’, to something dignified, mutually respectful and worthwhile.”

When asked why the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival was so important one community member summed it up perfectly:
“Celebrate Nashville is a wonderful festival! Glorious foods, wonderful music and arts, amazing people! Such an event, celebrating our city’s cultural riches is sorely needed in our times of narrow mindedness, base polarisation and misunderstanding. I look forward to it every year, and always have a ton of fun! Kudos to all of you working to make it happen! This festival elevates us all!” ~Hughes Chevalier

Presented by the Nashville Metro Parks, the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival is at the world-renown Centennial Park every fall. Local organizations have collaborated with the festival to offer even more incentives to the well-over 60,000 event attendees.
Free parking and shuttles are provide by Hospital Corporations of America (HCA) and Metro Airport Authority, while organizations like Metro Nashville Water Services and Metro Action Commission distribute information regarding services that are available to Nashville and Davidson County residents.

By acknowledging the presence and essence of various cultures, the festival truly emphasizes cross-cultural understanding as a need for the success of Nashville’s thriving community. As community member, Rachel Hoffman, expressed, “Celebrate Nashville may be the most unifying event in Music City. The music, the food, the booths show the beauty that each culture brings to the world. Fame, prestige, income, etc. are not a factor. All are welcome and celebrated. Wouldn’t it be a beautiful world if every day could be like the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival?”

Rachel’s comment symbolizes why the Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival is a vital event for the Nashville community. The festival provides a way for Nashville to recognize its rich cultural diversity while also bringing the community closer together. Let’s continue embracing celebrating our diversity!

To find out more about the Annual Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival visit www.celebratenashville.org.

 

The National Museum of African American Music, or NMAAM, is set to open later this year as the cornerstone of the Fifth + Broadway site currently under construction. The 56,000-square-foot facility will house five galleries focusing on the legacy and contributions of African Americans to more than 50 musical genres and sub-genres ranging from spirituals to jazz to blues to R&B to hip-hop.

“American music and black music have become inseparable,” said H. Beecher Hicks III, president and CEO of NMAAM. “No museum until NMAAM had fully explored the role African Americans have played and continue to play in turning American music into the soundtrack of the world.”

Gallery names will include “Crossroads,” “Wade in the Water,” “One Nation Under a Groove,”  “A Love Supreme,” “ The Message” and will trace a line from the Stono slave rebellion in 1739 all the way to the rise and dominance of hip-hop through a combination of interactive technology, artifacts and, of course, music.

Music truly is a great uniting force in our culture. It’s why we’ve chosen the tagline ‘One Nation Under a Groove’ to be the singular idea guiding us forward.

That line, taken from the 1978 Funkadelic hit by the same name, highlights how NMAAM will explore the cultural, musical and political forces that are present in all forms of music.

“One Nation Under a Groove” was a foundational moment in the history of funk music, and in seven and a half minutes George Clinton and Funkadelic distilled the essence of African American music and its profound impact on our lives.

NMAAM will explore how a song like “One Nation Under a Groove” defined a genre, how it was both a product of and a fuel for the spirit of the late 1970s, and also its legacy in becoming a building block for West Coast rap in the late 1990s.

“We want visitors to be exposed to artists, songs and stories they’re familiar with, but then use those as a jumping-off point to learn about the people and stories they don’t know,” Hicks said.
“Our aim is to show how all of these come together to create what we know as ‘American music.’”

NMAAM isn’t only looking backward, however. They also understand the role they play in employing and assembling staff and executives in an industry historically difficult for minorities to break into.

A number of NMAAM staff members attended HBCUs, including the President and CEO, H. Beecher Hicks, III and Dionne Lucas, director of Marketing and Communications. Overall, 80 percent of the contractors being used in the project are minority-owned. NMAAM’s team is led by Don Hardin, project manager, and Harold Thompson, lead architect. Euphony Four, a joint venture of four minority contractors – East Tennessee Mechanical Contractor Corp., ICF Builders and Consultants, Pillars Development LLC, and Megen Construction – will lead the construction planning and management for NMAAM. And last year, NMAAM hired Nashville native and independent contractor Donna Gilliam to provide interior design services. While the museum hasn’t opened yet, their presence has already been felt across Nashville. They currently host a number of different educational programs, community events and award celebrations.

NMAAM’s educational programs From Nothing to Something and Music, Legends & Heroes, take place in schools across the city and expose students to musical styles, instruments and history they may not get otherwise.

Community events like Sips and Stanzas, Emerging Artist Series, and Fine Tuning are opportunities for Nashville professionals to network with those in the music industry and beyond.

And events like A Celebration of Legends are celebrations of musical heroes and industry icons, offering a chance to celebrate the contributions of artists like Nile Rodgers, Charlie Wilson and Keb’ Mo.’

A common theme is present at all of these events: the overwhelming power of music. The idea that music breaks down cultural, political and socio-economic walls. The idea that the groove can conquer all.

I believe NMAAM shouldn’t just be a museum; it needs to be a living celebration of African American culture and the things that we all share, regardless of background or race, as music fans. We can’t do that unless we continue to honor the legacy of this music by making an impact in the lives of every single person who hears about us, comes to one of our events or walks through our doors. That’s what I trust NMAAM will do.

Kirbee is the founder and owner of KiNiMi Kitchen, LLC.  KiNiMi Kitchen’s mission is to cultivate immersive culinary experiences that promote inclusion and connection. Kirbee launched this multidimensional brand to share her love for food and people via an online cooking show, cooking classes, as well TV appearances in the Nashville and Chattanooga markets, Pop-Up shops at locations such as Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn.

Creative at her core, it might just be her blood type! Her heart is in the kitchen. She has been cooking and baking since she was 5. She sees food and cooking as opportunities to connect and create community. She is passionate about people, community service, connection and helping others Live their Best Life!

You don’t have to qualify for each other’s time in order to share a moment with good food. This pie taste like comfort. It is meant to be shared and will definitely create memories.

“Slice of Southern Hospitality, the first bite will invite you in, and make you stay awhile. Around pie, we are all family!”

Connect with her!:  IG: @KiNiMiKitchen, Facebook: KiNiMi Kitchen Website: KiNiMiKitchen.com.

Eric L. Meriwether is a 2005 graduate of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University where he received his Bachelors of Business Administration with a concentration in Business Management. He began his career in financial services in 2004 with SunTrust Bank, and quickly moved up the ranks into management after graduation. In 2014, he  left his post as Vice President and Branch Manager at SunTrust Bank and joined Northwestern Mutual, a nationwide financial services firm, where he is currently a Financial Advisor. He now helps clients create, preserve, and pass on generational wealth.

Eric works with corporate/business executives, business owners, medical, and sports and music/entertainment industry professionals across the nation. He strategizes with his clients to identify and access their financial needs, then provides relevant solutions to aid them in achieving their goals. He does this by creating a financial game plan for each client specifically designed to address their need(s) and objectives after consultation and a detailed analysis of their financial position.

Eric provides the following services:

• Financial Planning
• Insurance Products and Services
• Investment Advisory Products and Services
• Retirement Planning
• College Savings
• Business Services

Eric is a native of Memphis, TN and currently resides in Murfreesboro TN with his wife, Tempest, of over 9 years and their two daughters, Arianna and Ariya. Eric and his wife are also co-founders of O3 Marriage Club, a non-profit organization established to encourage, save, and sustain healthy loving marriages and families through engaging forms of education, fitness, leisure, and charity. Eric has a passion for people, education, family, and ministry. He dedicates his life to giving back and spreading the message of practical life application of biblical principles on financial stewardship!

To get additional info, schedule a free consultation, or learn more about Eric contact him via the info listed below:

Eric Meriwether – Northwestern Mutual

1639 Medical Center Pkwy, STE 301

Murfreesboro, TN. 37129

Office: (615) 898-8743

Cell: (615) 691-2378

Email: eric.meriwether@nm.com

Website: http://ericmeriwether.nm.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericmeriwethernorthwesternmutual

Urvoyce is  a consulting and design firm that focuses on new media strategy that utilizes original content, multimedia projects, website design, and social networks to help organizations build an online presence. 

The founder of UrVoyce is Jason Luntz, a communication professional who has been actively immersed in social media since 2008 when he began his career writing online for various blogs. As social media expanded from Myspace to Twitter and Facebook he began to learn how to leverage his online influence to help others grow their presence on the internet. This eventually grew into a full fledged career that allows Jason to give small companies and non-profits the same marketing opportunities as their larger counterparts.

UrVoyce now enjoys working with a variety of clients and handling their online and multimedia needs. This is done by creating dynamic websites, social network campaigns, as well as print, audio, and video stories.

To learn more about Jason and UrVoyce please visit: www.urvoyce.com.

 

At KinderCare Learning Centers, we accept Infants through 12 years of age. We focus on developmental skills that are assist children in their future path of learning:

• Language and Literacy Development
• Executive Function
• Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development and Wellness
• Cognitive Development
• Creative Expressions

We also have summer camp for school agers and a variety of enrichment programs.

Please visit us at www.kindercare.com or at one of our local Nashville area centers:

ANTIOCH

592 Bell Road

615-361-8707

FRANKLIN

208 Seaboard Lane

615-771-7121

205 Bedford Way

615-791-5022

2111 Fieldstone Parkway

615-791-0228

GOODLETTSVILLE

1025 Jackson Road

615-851-1361

HENDERSONVILLE

138 Maple Row Boulevard

615-824-0645

HERMITAGE

4771 Andrew Jackson Parkway

615-883-6869

MURFREESBORO

1239 Sloan Street

615-890-7488

NASHVILLE

410 Swiss Avenue

615-833-3960