Hollywood Arts Council’s FREE 28th Annual Children’s Festival of the Arts at Paramount Pictures on Sunday, August 11th from 12-Noon – 4:30 p.m.

This Children’s Festival is a celebration of the arts and culture in Hollywood. The festivities will include a full schedule of performances featuring a variety of music, dance, and entertainment from around the world for all ages. An assortment of art workshops with professional artists will provide children with the opportunity to create their own art pieces as souvenirs. There will be face painters and many other surprises. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. “This wonderful non-commercial event has become a family tradition,” according to HAC president Nyla Arslanian. “People whose parents brought them to the festival are now bringing their kids.”

Emceed by Casey McCabe of 97.1 AMP Radio, performers for this year’s Children’s Festival will include: Plaza de la Raza Folklorico, Jim Gamble Puppets, magician Arty LoOn, Lac Hong Vietnamese Dance, Lyte Dance Studio Hip-Hop, Stunt Kids of Hollywood and the West Los Angeles Children’s Choir – a 22 member children’s choir under the direction of Barbara Klaskin Silberg that has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.”

Impressionist Elaine Horn will make a personal appearance as Dorothy Gale from “The Wizard of Oz,” along with Toto, too! Favorite Looney Tunes characters courtesy of Six Flags Magic Mountain and special celebrity guests will be available for photos and autographs. Festival attendees can get their picture taken on the Red Carpet inside the Paramount Theatre. Actors from the Screen Actors Guild Foundation will conduct their popular BookPALs story readings. Members of the Los Angeles Police Department Hollywood Division Cadets will be on hand to provide assistance to festival attendees. Raffle Drawings will also be held for valuable prizes.

The Children’s Festival of the Arts is presented by the Hollywood Arts Council, a community-based organization founded in 1978 to promote, nurture, and support the arts in Hollywood. The FREE annual Children’s Festival of the Arts is one of many projects and events presented by the Council to enhance the quality of life in the city and promote the arts. The Council’s projects also include Project SOAR (Students Overcoming All Risks), an after school art program presented in Hollywood area elementary schools.

The Hollywood Arts Council, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is an action-oriented organization that works for the benefit of the Hollywood community through the arts. Founded in 1978 to insure that the arts play a vital role in revitalization plans then underway, the Hollywood Arts Council has been providing service to the Hollywood community, and artists and arts organizations working in Hollywood for 35 years.

Strongly linked to the Council’s purpose to promote, nurture and support the arts is the belief that the arts revitalize people as well as communities. Project S.O.A.R. (Students Overcoming All Risks), its after-school art program and the annual Children’s Festival of the Arts held each August at Paramount Pictures brings free art workshops and performance to thousands of children and their families. The Council also created the Annual Awards Luncheon “The Charlies” to honor individuals and organizations for their significant contributions to the arts and Hollywood. Through the years, the Council has spearheaded many community arts projects. The Council has served as a catalyst convening arts organizations working in Hollywood for its periodic Arts Roundtables and promotes Hollywood’s performing arts with a daily calendar of arts activities published in Discover Hollywood magazine and on its website www.hollywoodartscouncil.org.

The Hollywood Arts Council has been recognized by the Los Angeles City Council, Los Angeles County, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, former State Senator Curren Price and Congressman Adam Schiff for its tireless efforts on behalf of the arts and the community of Hollywood. At its annual Charlie Awards Luncheon in April, the Council celebrated its 35th anniversary.

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