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Community-Wide World Food & Music Celebration is Sept. 12 - 20

August 26, 2020

(GREATER DES MOINES, IOWA) Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 — The World Food & Music Festival announced that it will be transitioning its programming to a socially distanced community-wide celebration of food, music, heritage and culture with a number of virtual events and programming. The World Food & Music Celebration will occur in September in conjunction with National Welcoming Week, Sept. 12 – 20. Elements of the celebration include a socially distanced Community Cookout, a Best Brunch competition, recipe-sharing and much more.

The Community Cookout presented by MidAmerican Energy Company will be on Saturday, Sept. 12. The Cookout encourages residents across the region to decorate their driveways and balconies to show support for your favorite team, whether it be football, baseball, basketball, hockey or any other sport. Not a fan of sports? Decorate your tailgate with a global feel, reflect your own personal heritage or make your own mini-World Food & Music Festival. Residents are encouraged to cook dishes that represents their heritage, a special tradition or a dish that has a personal meaning. Participating tailgaters can win a special prize package of goodies and swag from the World Food & Music Festival. To win, participants just need to share a picture of their tailgate and special dish to the Community Cookout Event on Facebook.

The World Food & Music Celebration will hold a March Madness-style digital Bye-Bye Summer Brunch Bracket sponsored by Bankers Trust from Sept. 8 — Sept. 20 to find the best brunch in DSM. Voting rounds will begin at Noon on the first date of the competition and close at Noon on the final date of the competition. The final winner will be announced at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20. You can vote for your favorite DSM brunch spot and cheer them on to number one on Facebook. Voting rounds are as follows:

  • Sept. 9 –11: Sweet and Savory Sixteen
  • Sept.12 –14: Egg-Citing Eight
  • Sept. 15 –17: The Final Fork
  • Sept 18 – 20: Championship Brunch

Additionally, a list of diverse restaurants in the region will be posted on the World Food & Music Celebration website in advance of the celebration, and a list of recipes from past cooking demos at the World Food & Music Festival will be posted in coming weeks. Flags representing countries from around the world will be hung throughout the Historic East Village during The Celebration week. A series of cultural kits sponsored by Veridian Credit Union will also be produced in partnership with CultureALL for community members to pick up or download. More details on these elements and other activities will be announced in coming weeks.

“Each year we welcome thousands of guests to The Festival to take the first step in learning about a different culture through food,” Colleen Murphy, Downtown Events Director at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, said. “Although we won’t gather together at an event, this year we still welcome DSM residents to expand your horizons by learning about and trying as many multicultural restaurants as possible, and expand their learning about the many diverse communities that make our region stronger, vibrant and strong."

The World Food & Music Celebration is possible through the generosity of its sponsors: Bravo Greater Des Moines, Principal, Nationwide, Voya Financial, Bankers Trust, Des Moines Register / LOCALiQ, MidAmerican Energy Company, Veridian Credit Union, DART and Doll Distributing.

The World Food & Music Festival and World Food & Music Celebration are produced by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. A traditional Festival format is scheduled to return September 17 – 19, 2021.

About the Greater Des Moines Partnership

The Greater Des Moines Partnership is the economic and community development organization that serves Greater Des Moines (DSM), Iowa. Together with 24 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce, more than 6,500 Regional Business Members and more than 365 Investors, The Partnership drives economic growth with one voice, one mission and as one region. Through innovation, strategic planning and global collaboration, The Partnership grows opportunity, helps create jobs and promotes DSM as the best place to build a business, a career and a future. Learn more at DSMpartnership.com.