Are you interested to learn more about the Jackson International Food & Art Festival? Learn more information about the festival at https://www.jifaf.com/.
To learn more about Leaders Credit Union, visit leaderscu.com.
Shea:
Hey, this is Shea.
Carrie:
And this is Carrie.
Shea:
Welcome to the Pocket Change Podcast.
Carrie:
Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, invest, and take control of your financial journey.
Shea:
So, Carrie, today we're going to talk about one of the largest events to come to Jackson, Tennessee. It brings together a bunch of communities and cultures, and so it's going to be a really good conversation.
Carrie:
It is, and if you're a foodie like me, you can eat around the world and have a taste of everything. With their extended hours, this year, you can actually eat all three meals there.
Shea:
That's right. So, it's going to be a great conversation.
Carrie:
It is. I'm looking forward to it. So we're excited today to have Dr. Sandra Dee, co-founder of the Jackson International Food and Arts Festival, to the podcast today. Welcome to Pocket Change, Sandra.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Thank you for having me.
Carrie:
Well, we're so happy you are here with us. Can you tell us a little bit about how the Jackson International Food and Arts Festival got started?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
In 2013, I was invited to the Citizens Commission of Unity, where in a series of meetings were conducted as part of the initiative of the then mayor, Jerry Gist, that he wanted to formulate different ideas on how to make Jackson a better place. So in these series of meetings, actually, there are several people that were invited; professionals, educators, bankers, realtors, business people were all invited to this meeting. So I received a letter in my clinic, and I was shocked, and surprised, and also apprehensive because I was worried that I was being summoned to the mayor's office. So it's the first time I've ever gotten a letter from the mayor, and I thought, "Well, should I go or should I not?" At that time, I was the President of the Filipino American Association here in Jackson, and I thought, "Well, I better go check it out." In those meetings, I met Eduardo Morales, who is the representative of the Hispanic community. Both of us shared this idea of having an international festival so that we could spread cultural awareness, promote unity, and also celebrate the different backgrounds of the people here in our city. So with this, the festival was born in 2014 as the kickoff of the season of unity.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
The festival serves as an avenue, really, for the international community to share our culture, our history through music, dance, food, and art. So that's how it all started, and of course, when we started, we thought, "Well, nobody's going to come." We were surprised that there were about 2,000 people that came, and it was held in downtown Jackson. And through time, it has grown tremendously through leaps and bounds. Last year, we had about 25,000 people.
Shea:
That's amazing.
Carrie:
That is amazing.
Shea:
It's grown so much. So, why is it so important to spread and advocate for cultural awareness in our community?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yeah, cultural awareness is also known as cultural sensitivity, actually. So it is a way where in we actually try to know and appreciate the beliefs, customs, and traditions of other people as it relates to our relationship with them. So when we understand and know cultural differences, it actually gives us an opportunity to know them better; to actually mingle, interact, and connect with them so that we promote peace and harmony. Sometimes we have this innate bias amongst ourselves. We are biased with a certain group of people or community, but that's because we don't know them. We don't know them. We are afraid of them sometimes. That's why the festival is a good opportunity, for people to come come out, know these different cultures. We have maybe around 50 or so cultures here, and they all show up at the day of the festival. So that is an opportunity for you and me and everybody else to know them, and taste the food. That's one thing that's an attraction.
Shea:
That brings people together.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yeah, that's an attraction. Watch the performances and also learn about the different things that the city has to offer to our community. In the festival, we actually also have educational component. We also include the different services that we have here in the city because the festival is a partnership with the city of Jackson, with the different services that we have, the fire department, law enforcement, parks and rec., and many more. We even have nonprofits that show up during the festival. So that's one day. For the first time, it's going to be eight hours, but it's usually a six-hour event. All these things happen. So many things to do at the festival. So I invite people to come and enjoy it.
Shea:
Like you said, it's about bringing unity to our community. So it's important.
Carrie:
Well, and speaking of inviting people to come to the festival, what can attendees expect this year?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yeah, this year, it's a little different. Of course, we have several components to the festival. We've always had the food, most important thing, food. We have music, dance, entertainment. We have children's creative activity area. So what people expect this year is it's going to be extended two extra hours. We usually have the festival only six hours, but the preparation, if you want to learn about it, is about a year. It takes about a year to prepare for a 6-hour event, and this time it's eight hours. So we'll be starting at 10:00 AM till 6:00 PM, and of course, we have so many other new vendors. Maybe they'll be coming in for the first time. We have more artists that actually registered in our festival. We started only, really, I believe, twenty or forty vendors in the very first time, but last year, we had almost 140.
Carrie:
Wow.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
So it's unthinkable, really.
Carrie:
Quite a large event.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yes. I could not even imagine it in my wildest dreams.
Shea:
So you mentioned the child's creative area for the children's stage and the performances and entertainment for the children. Leaders is proud to sponsor that children's stage and creative area. So, what can we expect in that area for the children?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yeah, I would like to also take this opportunity to thank Leaders for being a sponsor.
Shea:
Absolutely.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
You've joined us the last few years, and of course, last year, you actually did more for the festival by actually sponsoring the children's creative area, which is in the Exhibit Hall of the Fairground. So this year, we have so much in store for the children. We will be having a reading campground. Of course, there'll be fake fire. It's not real fire. It's not allowed. They will be reading around the campfire, and also there will be tents. There will be readers and guests readers for these children. We will also be giving cultural books. We're given a grant, partly by the Jackson Arts Council. So we'll give those away. There is the WOW Wagon, Words on Wheels. I'm learning a lot about this myself and the READ Team. Of course, we have different artists there, like Wendy Kim and Lendon Noe who will be doing some fantastic creative children's activities. Not to mention, Leaders also has your own stage, right? It's a children's stage where the kids will have their own performances there. We have the drum circle, Valerie Porter's drum circle.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
We will have Nadia Bird's traditional dance. We'll have the Aztec performer coming from Nashville and many more. We'll also have the French Puppet Show.
Carrie:
Oh, wow. The performances are always so impressive, and to me, one of the most fun parts about being there. It gets your adrenaline going.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
That's right.
Shea:
The Leaders booth will have an activity for the children so they can come by and see us and do an activity with us. We're excited to be there on that day to interact with the community. It'll be a fun time. So we know, Dr. Dee, this is the 10th year of the festival. What are some of the new things we can expect this year?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Since this is our 10th year, we have so many things in store for everybody, and as a thank you to the community. As I said earlier, we're extending the hours, although it's two extra hours. So the last part of the program will be an Abba Tribute Band. So remember, Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia? You should come party like it's 1979. So be ready, Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia. So we have that. We will also have professional performers like the Lion and Dragon Dance Group from Houston, Texas. This group has performed for the Houston Rockets and also in Disney. They have just celebrated their 50th year, so we are proud to bring them here, and as I mentioned earlier, we have the Aztec performers coming from Nashville, and we'll also have the folkloric group also coming from Nashville, and many other local talents, don't forget our cultural performances from India, Philippines, Mexico, and many more.
Shea:
So Dr. Dee, we want to make sure our listeners know all about the festival. So tell us when it is, where it is, and any other things we need to know about this year's Food and Art Festival.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yeah, the festival will be on September 21st, 2024, with new extended hours from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and it will be at the Jackson Fairgrounds, and I'd like to thank all the volunteers, you, my dedicated team, and the city of Jackson, Madison County, and Parks and Rec., and all the supporters, donors, who have been with us for the last 10 years. If not for them, we will not be able to continue this festival. It's a work of art, actually, and it's actually dedication of these people, that's why we still are around. I'd like to mention to everybody that the festival was awarded the Heart and Soul of the Arts Award by the Jackson Arts Council in 2020,
Shea:
Wow.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
and last year, we were voted the best local event by VIP Jackson, Best in Jackson.
Shea:
It's the best festival to come to. So come on out September 21st, Saturday at the Jackson Fairgrounds from 10:00am to 6:00pm.
Carrie:
Sounds like it's going to be a wonderful time. So this is a financial podcast. So I have to ask, what is your best piece of financial advice that you can give others?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
Yeah, I grew up in the Philippines. People sometimes think about it as a third-world country, but when we were young, my parents used to tell us to save up and don't spend beyond your means. Don't keep up with the Jones. But I have a disclaimer here that you could always dream big. Just like the festival, the festival started small, but we dreamt big, so it's bigger now.
Shea:
Yeah, that's great advice.
Carrie:
That's great advice.
Shea:
Our other last question, since it is our Pocket Change Podcast, if you had any extra pocket change, what would you spend it on?
Dr. Sandra Dee:
I would go to my church, light a candle, and make a wish, but one of the things that I could do is I could give you both my pocket change so you could run to the festival and grab me some food.
Shea:
We'll do that for you.
Carrie:
We'll find us that day so we can get you some food because I know you're a busy woman and you're running around doing all the things. Well, we thank you so much, Dr. Sandra Dee, for being here with us today and being a guest on the Pocket Change Podcast.
Dr. Sandra Dee:
I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.