News 12 @ 11 o'clock, September 18, 2008

FROM WWW. WESTOBOUFESTIVAL.COM WEBSITE:

WESTOBOU FESTIVAL
September 18 - 27, 2008
"Celebrating Excellence in the Arts"

The Westobou Festival will be a 10-day celebration of the arts
encompassing a variety of performances and presentations. Designed
using the footprint of Charleston's Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto festivals,
the Westobou Festival will kicked off Thursday prior to the Arts in the
Heart of Augusta Festival and will run through the following weekend.
Performing arts groups, specialty entertainment acts, visual arts and
others will be encouraged to participate and benefit from the marketing of this areas wealth of artistic talent. The Westobou Festival is funded by the Porter Fleming Foundation / Trustees of the Academy of Richmond County and administered by the Greater Augusta Arts Council ("Arts Council").

The goal is to bring tourists and art lovers from the southeast, and beyond, to Augusta for a list of diverse activities. Some activities that regularly occur during this time include: the opening of Gertrude Herbert's A Sense of Place Exhibit,
Arts in the Heart of Augusta Festival, Augusta Symphony, Tuesday Music Live, and Tom Clark's Rockin' Rib Fest. Events would be layered in to add diversity and excitement, guaranteed to please a variety of art lovers.
A coordinated marketing campaign was designed to bring visitors, conventions and tours to Augusta during the 10-day festival.
The benefits are many:

• Augusta / Richmond County will experience a positive
economic benefit through increased sales, hotel and alcohol
tax collections.
• The community and participating arts groups/organizations
will benefit as a result of: increased regional advertising,
increased awareness of our community as a destination, and
increased audiences for our arts organizations.
• Residents will be encouraged to attend many of the
concentrated performances, raising awareness and pride in
Augusta's excellent artistic offerings.
• Collaborative and artistic partnerships will be encouraged
resulting in a cultural renaissance.

The Westobou Festival will celebrate Augusta's wealth of artistic talent, will encompass a variety of performances and presentations by local, regional, and nationally-recognized individuals and organizations, primarily in the disciplines of dance, music, theatre and visual arts.
Each day and evening of the ten day festival will be filled with a variety of dance, musical, theatrical and visual arts presentations designed to dazzle visitors and showcase the wealth of local, regional and nationally-acclaimed artistic talent that has exploded in this area resulting in a cultural renaissance.