ORLANDO, Fla. – The Fusion Fest 2023 commences this weekend at the Doctor Phillip’s Center, and organizers say it’s all hands on deck.
News 6 got a tour of the grounds in front of the performing arts center where the festival is going to be held.
“Fusion Fest is a grand celebration of all the incredible diversity we have here in Central Florida with everything you can think of that’s a part of life, food, merchandise, music and dance,” said Terry Olson, who leads Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs Office. “And much more.”
Olson said this will be the sixth year the festival has been running, and he expects more than 20,000 people to attend.
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News 6 reporter Brian Didlake was with Olson touring the festival area on Friday. On one side of the center’s ground near Anderson Street are lined tents with different shops and vendors.
“Who are we going to be seeing over here on this pedestrian walkway?” Didlake asked.
“This is our international marketplace so this way we will have vendors handcrafted and unique crafts,” Olson explained.
One of those vendors, Noiraud Shop, shows off the culture of Senegal with handmade baskets, bags and jewelry.
“About 100. And over here, this tent will be arts and crafts, so throughout the day, there will be different classes for kids or families to make Vietnamese hats or French impressionist paintings and kinds of things,” Olson explained when asked how many cultures are expected to be seen at the event.
Olson pointed out a flower stand near the corner of East Anderson and South Street.
“We are doing an installation piece, and basically what we are going to be doing is we are going to be inviting people who are visiting the festival to take a flower from the installation, and then they are going to find somebody they don’t know to give the flower to,” said Tisse Malon, the founder of Elar Institute.
Malon said her stand is in a raw form, but her non-profit, Elar Institute, is doing what it does best for the festival — and that’s putting on programming to help connect people better.
And that’s something the Fusion Fest experience is all about, Malon added.
“I have been in charge since Fusion Fest started, but taking that idea on how to get people to engage on a meaningful level: how do we get people to really interact with one another?” Malon stated.
Olson said the festival is free and is funded mainly by donations, sponsors and vendors.
He said the timing for this festival around Thanksgiving is important.
“It feels really good to be thankful for what we have here in Central Florida we’re a pretty unique place,” Olson said.
He added that guests can expect to be able to buy all types of food from vendors at the event.
For the last part of the tour, News 6 saw a stage being set up facing Rosalind Avenue. This will be where a citizenship ceremony is set to take place to kick off festivities on Saturday morning.
Olson said he hopes this event will get results for the community at large.
“And the more we can learn about each other, the more it’s going to be easy for us to respect them and not fear them,” he said.
Organizers are encouraging people to come to the Fusion Fest over the weekend from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. on Sunday.
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