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MEDIA ADVISORY
Rosie the Riveter Record Breaking Rally and Home Front Festival
The Richmond Convention and Visitors Bureau joins the National Park Service, the City of Richmond, the Richmond Museum Association and the Rosie the Riveter Trust in welcoming thousands to Richmond this weekend for a historic attempt at a new Guinness World Record. Richmond’s extraordinary contributions to the WW II Home Front, including the “We Can Do It” Rosies, will be honored in a gathering to set the record for the largest number of people dressed as Rosie the Riveter in one place since WW II. An afternoon Home Front Festival honoring Richmond’s past and its ties to present day arts, music and culture will follow the record-breaking rally.
“We welcome all of the record-breaking Rosies to Richmond, this weekend,” said Beth Javens, Executive Director of the Richmond Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “The rally at the historic Craneway, now a premier venue for events in the Bay Area, the “Parade of Rosies” along our gorgeous waterfront and the home front festival with its fabulous line up of artistic talent and local vendors, link the vitality of Richmond’s WWII past with the dynamic revitalization of present day Richmond.”
WHEN/WHERE: Saturday August 13, 2016
10:00 a.m. Rosie Rally Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour Way South, Richmond. Followed by a “Parade of Rosies” walking along the Bay to Marina Bay Park for the Home Front Festival.
12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Home Front Festival Marina Bay Park at the corner of Regatta Boulevard and Melville Square, Richmond. The Home Front Festival includes a giant line up of artistic talent (see below), food and fun activities for the entire family.
WHY: Richmond is the proud home to the Rosie the Riveter/WW II Home Front National Historical Park https://www.nps.gov/rori/index.htm. The Park, located on the beautiful and historic Richmond waterfront, tells the national WWII Home Front story through the lens of Richmond’s historic home front sites. You can visit the Oil House Visitor Center, the Rosie the Riveter Memorial, the historic Ford Assembly plant, Maritime Childcare Center, and more.
Thousands of Rosies and other home front workers were employed in the Kaiser Richmond Shipyards, one of the biggest wartime shipbuilding operations on the West Coast. The rally and home front festival recognize and commemorate the important contribution of women and all home front workers during WW II.
Richmond set a record in 2015 with its first Rosie Rally drawing 1,084 Rosies. Since then, the record was broken in a friendly rivalry with Ypsilanti, Michigan, when they gathered 2,000 Rosies. Richmond hopes to retake the record this year, signifying its commitment to keep the memory of Rosie the Riveter alive for generations to come.
WHO: Members of the National Park Service, Richmond City and civic leaders, the Richmond Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will join with many original Rosies to welcome and cheer on new generations of Rosies.
Home Front Festival Music & Entertainment to include:
The Company – gospel vocal ensemble featuring young and spirited Bay Area singers. Directed by Christopher Cobbs.
The Extra Nappy Big Band – Featuring bandleader Howard Wiley, The Extra Nappy Big Band plays music of the African American diaspora from the mid twentieth century. It mission is to combine the music and the story of the community, from Duke Ellington and Count Basie to Earth, Wind and Fire and Curtis Mayfield. The ensemble features Mitch Butler (Cal State East Bay jazz director), Thomas Pridgen (Mars Volta), Mike Aaburg (Lalah Hathaway), Bill Ortiz (Santana), and the music of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Kool and the Gang as well as originals by ensemble members.
Members of the Iron Triangle Urban Ballet
Choreographer/ dancer Jamar Welch and other members of the East Bay Center for the Performing Art Center’s Iron Triangle Urban Ballet perform an enigmatic dance piece made famous by the iconic Cab Calloway.
Joe Orrach, dancer – Joe Orrach, actor, dancer, singer and solo artist, performs worldwide on stage, television and in motion picture features. He has tap danced with such greats as Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde and Savion Glover. Like some of his predecessors from vaudeville, Joe combines a hip street-wise feel with the beauty and sophistication of the theatre. He has taken song, storytelling, dance and boxing and crossed over seamlessly from stage to film.
Son de la Tierra Mariachi Ensemble – Led by Maestro Artemio Posadas, Son de la Tierra’s up tempo music will transport you to another time and place.
The Vivants – Hailing from San Francisco, The Vivants find their musical faith in the inspiring traditions of Southern music and showmanship. The acoustic quartet recently completed their third album, Bluegrass Special; the album shimmers with bluegrass, old-time country, and sister-style harmonies throughout.
Tiffany Austin – Vocalist Tiffany Austin’s tradition-rooted yet totally modern style has established her as one of the fastest rising jazz stars in Northern California. Before earning a law degree at U.C. Berkeley, she performed on three continents—around her native Los Angeles while attending college, then for a year in England, and eventually for five and a half years in Tokyo. However, instead of taking the bar exam, she decided instead to devote her life to her first love—music. Her much-anticipated debut recording, Nothing But Soul, has received a warm reception from audiences and critics alike, including a four-star DownBeat Magazine review, a feature on NPR’s Fresh Air radio program, and inclusion on KQED’s Top 10 Bay Area Jazz Releases of 2015 list. She has also been featured in publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury, and Oakland Magazine.
