The two-day festival is in its 39th year and will be held on October 7th and 8th in downtown Columbus. This year\u2019s event will return to First and Washington Streets around City Hall. Due to the pandemic, last year\u2019s event was split into four separate smaller celebrations held on Fourth Street.<\/p>\n
The 2020 festival was originally going to have the African-American community as its Host Partner group, but it was canceled altogether that year due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Ethnic Expo features authentic food and a variety of entertainment on three stages. There will also be music and cultural programming in the Host Partner area representing the traditions of the African American culture. The festival is meant to foster understanding and an appreciation of Columbus\u2019 diverse population.<\/p>\n
It was started in 1984, organized by a committee led by Barbara Stewart, wife of then-mayor Bob Stewart.<\/p>\n
Organizers say that there will not be an Ethnic Expo parade this year.<\/p>\n
The title sponsor for the event will be First Financial Bank, with other sponsors including Coca-Cola and ERMCO Electric. The Expo also receives support from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Columbus Area Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This year\u2019s Ethnic Expo will be celebrating the African American community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":12155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16],"tags":[7,30,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-12158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\n