UNESCO Creative City Kansas City Holds Global Music Fest Voyage of the Drum

Voyage of the Drum World Jazz Festival is part of Make Music Day or Fete de la Musique in Kansas City, MO USA, June 21st.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, UNITED STATES, June 15, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- When: Sun, 06/20/2021 to Wed, 06/23/2021

A UNESCO Creative City of Music, recently launched a collaborative project “Voyage of the Drum”. Bringing together Creative Cities especially in the field of Music, the project highlights how music has boosted and sustained cultural identities across history and geography.

Historic 100-year-old African American neighborhood, Dunbar Park, KCMO will be the site of the 2nd annual Make Music Day known as "Fete de la Musique" throughout the world, Monday, June 21st. This local cultural event is sponsored by UNESCO Creative City of Music-KC and the Heart of the City Neighborhood Association. Featured guest is Bill Summers, iconic percussionist of Headhunters.

The Voyage of the Drum is hosted by UCCN with Kansas City Missouri USA – the only UNESCO Creative City of Music in the United States. The Voyage of the Drum unites the cities of the world through the drum – one of humanity’s earliest instruments. The Voyage of the Drum celebrates the African Diaspora around the world and demonstrates how the influence of African rhythms is felt through many world music cultures. The 18 participating cities include (the year the City joined UNESCO UCCN):

1. Adelaide, Australia (2015)
2. Ambon, Indonesia (2019)
3. Bogotá, Colombia (2012)
4. Chennai, India (2017)
5. Daegu, South Korea (2017)
6. Frutillar, Chiles (2017)
7. Glasgow, Scotland (2008)
8. Hamamatsu City, Japan (2014)
9. Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal (2015)
10. Kansas City, Missouri, USA (2017)
11. Kazan, Russia (2019)
12. Kingston, Jamaica (2015)
13. Kirşehir, Turkey (2019)
14. Leiria, Portugal (2019) with special guests from Guinea-Bissau
15. Llíria, Spain (2019)
16. Nassau, Bahamas (Crafts and Folk Art – 2014)
17. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (2019)
18. Veszprém, Hungary (2019)

In line with the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), proclaimed by the UN General Assembly via Resolution 68/237 in 2014, the project promotes racial equity and cultural awareness of the African Diaspora worldwide by highlighting the African influence on the musical genres of the world. A panel discussion entitled: "The African Influence on American Musical Genres" will premiere on June 23rd and will discuss the Voyage of the Drum and the African Diaspora as it pertains to popular music genres in the colonies and the United States since 1619.

Designed as an online cultural exchange between Creative Cities especially in the field of music, the initiative will showcase Creative Cities’ various cultural traditions of drumming as well as their connection to and influence on music, creativity and culture of cities worldwide. A special focus will be given to the musical idioms rooted in the African diaspora, indigenous drumming traditions, as well as the drumming traditions of migrants and ethnic groups.

Interested Creative Cities were invited to participate in the project by sharing online videos of musical performances and/or short video documentaries explaining local drumming and musical cultures. The collected videos will be broadcasted on Fete de la musique (21 June) event, being organized by the UNESCO Creative Cities of Music and facilitated by Music Export Poland.

Anita J. Dixon
Creative City KC Inc
816-612-0864
creativecitykc@gmail.com