Houston International Festival, also known as iFest, was a contemporary, multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural arts and music festival held annually in Houston, Texas. This North American festival takes place every April on in downtown Houston's parks and plazas. By city ordinance this annual 10-day event is Houston's official city celebration of the visual and performing arts. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Ifest announced in June 2014 that it was seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, making it clear that the 2014 fest would be the last ever festival.
Overview
The annual downtown event celebrates music, dance and cultures from around the world. Early festivals featured almost exclusively local acts; as the festival grew, more international and nationally known artists (most recently in 2010, George Clinton, Steel Pulse, Eddie Palmieri, and Ozomatli were scheduled in addition to regional and local performers).
The festival features vendors selling local and international foods and crafts. iFest also features six to eight arts markets with more than 400 artists including a juried art market.
The festival has the large areas dedicated to cultural and educational exhibits depicting different cultures. The footprint is divided into zones, each one focusing on a specific culture through food, exhibits and entertainment. The Living Museum represents the spotlighted culture each year with iconic structures, interactive exhibits, artisan demonstrations and performances.
The festival impacts Houston's tourism and economy by drawing 22% tourists attendance and generates local and state tourist-based taxes of $2.19 million.
The Houston International Festival is owned by the Houston Festival Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) organization, which uses the proceeds from the festival for year-round arts and education programs for schoolchildren in the Greater Houston area.
History
In 1971 Main Street 1 was the name given to a Salute to the Arts to be held Downtown—a weekend happening of celebrations highlighting the performing and visual arts, on the sidewalks, streets, and store windows located between Dallas and McKinney on Main Street in Houston, Texas. Sakowitz and Foleys Department Stores, and the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, with the blessing of Mayor Louie Welch, sponsored the event. It was the beginning of the cultural salute that grew and evolved into today's Houston International Festival. In 1987, iFest began featuring the art and culture of a different honoured country each year and began complementing local artists with regional, national and international artists. Today, the international component sets the tone for an evolving celebration of world culture.
Timeline
1973: Houston's Main Street Art Happening was moved from Downtown Houston, Texas (where the City Ordinance prohibited street closings) to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and its grounds across from the Contemporary Arts Museum, still on Main but now more "mid-town". This attempt at an outdoor-indoor celebration created safety concerns with crowds of pedestrians crossing streets, so in...
1974: The Art Happening moved to Hermann Park, near the Museum. It was expanded to two weekends to help minimize the risk of inclement weather affecting attendance.
1976: The event was named "The Houston Festival", and remained so for the next ten years. The organizational structure changed, with the creation of The Houston Festival Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit with its own board of directors and budget, separate from the Houston Chamber of Commerce sponsorship. The foundation still remains the producing entity today.
1977: The festival moved back downtown, this time with two stages across from the Alley Theatre and Jones Hall, at what is now Jones Plaza. Attendance grew but expansion was limited in that site.
1979: The festival moved to a larger potential site at Market Square, in order to accommodate the growing number of participants and attendees.
1980 The Houston Festival Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization was spun off, as an independent entity, from the Houston Chamber of Commerce, with a mission to celebrate and promote the arts of Houston to the rest of the world. It was supported by the City of Houston, the Houston Cultural Arts Council, and the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Council. The board of Directors hired their first President, Rochella Cooper who immediately set out to involve the performing, visual, and literary arts organizations and individuals in promoting Houston through the Festival.