Chief of Staff Carmen Chubb (Center), OCA Executive Director Camille Russell Love (Far Right) and representatives from participating organizations at Fair Saturday press conference.
On Monday, Oct. 28, the Fair Saturday Foundation announced Atlanta as an Official Fair Saturday 2019 City during a press conference at the Atlanta City Hall.
First started in Bilbao, Spain, Fair Saturday is a global cultural movement and celebration. The annual event aims to positively respond to the commercialism and consumerism of Black Friday with a collective arts and culture celebration supporting social causes.
In July 2019, in Bilbao, the Fair Saturday Foundation announced its U.S. expansion with Atlanta being one of the first U.S. cities to participate in Fair Saturday 2019, taking place on Saturday, November 30 – the Saturday after Black Friday.
During this year’s event, artists and cultural organizations from all over the world will come together in a global festival to support a social cause of their choice through art and cultural presentations. Through these collaborations, the Fair Saturday movement will raise awareness of the impact that culture has on society.
Sixteen Atlanta-based arts and cultural organizations will participate in this year’s celebration. Representatives from Actor’s Express, Alliance Theatre, Center for Puppetry Arts, Horizon Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, and Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company joined Mayor Bottoms’ Chief of Staff, Carmen Chubb, and Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs’ Executive Director, Camille Russell Love, for the City’s kick-off event.
Jordi Albareda, the Director and Founder of Fair Saturday, shared his greetings to Atlanta from Bilbao, Spain welcoming the City to the global movement.
“Since its inception in 2015, Fair Saturday has seen great success, growing year after year. In 2018, the movement delivered 1,200 shows in 180 cities, involving 10,000 artists, attracting 200,000 attendees, and generating €1 million (or more than $1.1 million in U.S. currency) of cultural and social impact.”
Along with Atlanta, multiple cities have decided to join this year’s Fair Saturday celebration, such as Bilbao, Spain; Malaga, Spain; Bristol, England (UK); Lima, Peru; Helsinki, Finland; Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Lisbon, Portugal; Quincy, Massachusetts (USA); Cardiff, Wales (UK) and the entire country of Scotland.
To learn more about Fair Saturday, visit their website at fairsaturday.org.