Download the Twin Cities World Refugee Day 2009 press kit!
Media contact
Alexis Walstad
(612) 879-5263
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MEDIA ADVISORY
For release June 20, 2009
TWIN CITIES WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2009
| WHEN | Saturday, June 20, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
| 11 a.m.-2 p.m. – Immigrant resource fair and global cultural displays
12-3 p.m. – Diverse music and dance performances 3 p.m. – Main program, featuring speakers from six prominent refugee communities, spoken word and break dancing 4:30 p.m. – Live music by Marimba Africa |
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| WHERE | Minnehaha Park, 4801 Minnehaha Avenue South, Minneapolis |
| WHAT | Twin Cities World Refugee Day is an annual celebration of the more than 90,000 refugees who have been resettled in Minnesota since 1976 and the countless family and friends who have joined them here. The event will celebrate the diverse refugee communities of the Twin Cities through cultural performances, speakers, food, vendors, children’s activities, cultural displays and an immigrant resource fair. The event is free and open to the public. |
| WHY | In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly established June 20 as World Refugee Day. Since 2001, people all over the world have celebrated World Refugee Day with events that honor the world’s 11.4 million refugees and raise awareness about their continued plight. This is the third annual large-scale Twin Cities World Refugee Day event; last year’s celebration drew over 1,500 participants. |
| WHO | Organized by representatives of 17 local immigrant and refugee service providers and sponsored by nearly 60 organizations and businesses that serve refugees and immigrants including ClearWay Minnesota – QUITPLAN, Council on Black Minnesotans – Minnesota African-American African Tobacco Education Network (MAAATEN), Crown Medical Center, Minnesota Department of Health – Refugee Health Program, and Volunteers of America – Minnesota. |
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PRESS RELEASE
Twin Cities to celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20
Minneapolis, Minn. (June 12, 2009) – The Twin Cities is home to some of the largest refugee groups in the country and worldwide, including the largest Somali community in the United States and one of the largest Hmong communities on the planet. In total, more than 90,000 refugees have been resettled in Minnesota since 1979, and many more have moved to Minnesota from other states to reunite with family members and friends, find jobs and join communities with roots in the state. In celebration of these diverse groups and the journeys they have made, representatives from 17 local refugee-serving agencies will host Twin Cities World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20.
The event will be held on June 20 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. It is free and open to the public. From 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., guests can learn more about refugees through educational exhibits and receive information from 60 refugee service providers at the immigrant resource fair. Diverse refugee performers, including an Oromo choir, Somali poets, a Tibetan musician and dance groups from West Africa and Southeast Asia, will take the stage between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The main program will begin at 3:00 p.m. and will feature speakers from six predominant Twin Cities refugee communities interspersed with cultural dance performances followed by a concert with headliner Marimba Africa. Children’s activities and multicultural food and craft vendors will also be open throughout the day.
This is the third annual large-scale World Refugee Day event in the Twin Cities. Last year’s event drew over 1,500 participants from a diverse array of both refugee and non-refugee communities.
About World Refugee Day
In 2000, as an expression of solidarity with Africa, the United Nations General Assembly established June 20 as World Refugee Day to coincide with Africa Refugee Day. Since 2001, people all over the world have celebrated World Refugee Day with events that honor the world’s 11.4 million refugees and raise awareness about their continued plight.
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