Dancing, Singing and Culture at Gospelfest

By JAMIA JORDAN

On Sunday, Feb. 12, the University of Mary Washington will host its annual Gospelfest, celebrating African-American culture through the art of music and dance in Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall at 4 p.m.

Every year the Multi-Cultural Center, along with the UMW gospel singing group, Voices of Praise, come together to arrange and organize a gospel experience.

This year, the entertainment includes performances from groups all around the Fredericksburg area, as well as our very own Mary Washington Praise Dance team. According to previous attendees, the singing groups have a tendency of captivating their audience with their strong, soulful voices and the passion they display as they commit to each note of the performance.

This year two Quartet singing groups, a mime ministry, two praise teams, a praise dance ministry, and three other singing groups will be performing at Gospelfest.

Junior English major Tyshawnda Silver helped to organize for this upcoming event. Silver feels it is important to host an event such as Gospelfest on the Mary Washington campus.

“Yes I do feel that it is necessary to host an event such as this on campus because there are not many events on campus geared to promoting Gospel music and as the president of Voices of Praise I want to do all I can to raise awareness of Gospel music and Christianity on campus,” Silver said.

Admission to the event is free so come out and witness some great performances while immersing yourself in African- American culture.

Image courtesy of James Farmer Multicultural Center