Saturday, October 13, 2012


“PURPLE IS THE COLOR OF FIRE.” 
A series of poetry/music events for breast cancer awareness. [1] Launch event, Oct 27, Vanuatu Kava Bar: Featuring Dulci Ellenberger, Madelyn Lavender, Regina Duke, Alisa Danielle Kuumba Zuwena and Jadwiga McKay; [2] Second event, Nov 15, Westville Pub: Featuring Westsound, Laine Lewis and Deva Laxamana. INFO: Marta Osborne at 828 280 1555 or email pasckie@yahoo.com.



Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Peace Jones headlines Traveling Bonfires' “Food Poets Society” poetry, music (and food) show at Vanuatu Kava Bar, Oct 27


LOCAL band Peace Jones is the main act in the Traveling Bonfires' monthly poetry, music (with food) show, “Food Poets Society” at Vanuatu Kava Bar on Oct 27. The event is free to the public.
     Folk-rock-Americana band Peace Jones, a perennial guest in Traveling Bonfires' events, is anchored on Paul “Drum” DeCirce's flamboyant flute and ruminative songwriting.
     Also performing in the event are slam poet Riley Schilling and Pasckie Pascua, and a number of guests. 
     The Traveling Bonfires' centerpiece project is the “Bonfires for Peace,” a movable feast of family fun and community connectedness through music, arts and dancing, held mostly at Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville. The project just concluded its 3-event 2012 summer program, its 10th year in the mountains, last Sept 15. The organization organized an unprecedented 16 weekend events here in 2004, and more through ensuing years.
     “Food Poets Society,” a dinner and poetry/music gathering, is a brainchild of TBonfires founder Pasckie Pascua. He prepares food, mostly an “interface of Pacific island cuisine and Western food choices,” and serves them on donation basis for the benefit of the organization's community projects.
     Pascua, a veteran journalist and publisher-editor of the Asheville-based The Indie newsmagazine, is also a parttime cook with training at Gascony Cookery School in Gramont, France and at the Los Angeles Culinary Arts & Design School in Santa Monica, California.
     The Traveling Bonfires has also produced similar outdoor and indoor events in New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and in the Philippines where it originated, “instigating arts and music events and bringing people together in celebration of peace and multicultural connectedness."
     The Traveling Bonfires' events enjoyed the support of a number of local Asheville businesses, organizations, and individuals. Projects have benefited non-profit organizations that work with at-risk youths, families of the disappeared, orphans, and disaster victims.
For more info, http://ashevilletravelingbonfires.blogspot.com/ or call Marta Osborne at 828 280 1555 or email pasckie@yahoo.com

Traveling Bonfires' Wander Women Program Launches Series of Breast Cancer Awareness Events at Vanuatu Kava Bar, Oct 27 and Westville Pub, Nov 15


WANDER Women, a partner program by the Traveling Bonfires that is spearheaded by but not exclusive to women, launches “Purple is the Color of Fire,” a series of events for breast cancer awareness.
     The kick off show, which is an open dinner invite to breast cancer survivors and patients and their families, happens on Oct 27, Saturday, 8PM at Vanuatu Kava Bar on 15 Eagle Street in downtown Asheville.
     The free show features local singer songwriters Dulci Ellenberger and Madelyn Lavender, poet-singers Regina Duke and Alisa Danielle Kuumba Zuwena, and poet Jadwiga McKay. Breast cancer survivors and patients and their families are invited to share dinner and enjoy the show, free. Neo Cantina and The Blotter co-sponsor these events.
     The second event, set on Nov 15, Thursday, at Westville Pub in West Asheville, highlights the soul and R&B band WestSound, along with Laine Lewis and dancer Deva Laxamana. Suggested donation for this show is $5, entitling the patron a raffle ticket to various gifts from Asheville supporters.

     “Purple is the Color of Fire” is a continuation of a similar advocacy event for breast cancer prevention that was held in Manila and Baguio City in the Philippines in 2010. The Traveling Bonfires originated in the Philippines but has made Asheville its home since moving here from New York City in 2002.
     “This series of events is a continuous advocacy project that doesn't just happen in October,” says Marta Osborne, TBonfires and Wander Women supervising producer. “We are committed to carry on not just in Asheville but also in other cities and also in Manila.” October is billed as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
     The Traveling Bonfires' centerpiece project is the “Bonfires for Peace,” a movable feast of family fun and community connectedness through music, arts and dancing, held mostly at Pritchard Park in downtown Asheville. The project just concluded its 3-event 2012 summer program, its 10th year in the mountains, last Sept 15. The organization organized an unprecedented 16 weekend events here in 2004, and more through ensuing years.
     The Traveling Bonfires has also produced similar outdoor and indoor events in New York City, Baltimore, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and in the Philippines where it originated, “instigating arts and music events and bringing people together in celebration of peace and multicultural connectedness. “
     “We see the need to effect a vibe of peace and joy in Asheville in the light of a record increase in crime and violence in the last few years,” says TBonfires founding executive director Pasckie Pascua. “We don't have to launch speeches, we just play music and enjoin the community to come out, dance and be together.”
     The Traveling Bonfires' events enjoyed the support of a number of local Asheville businesses, organizations, and individuals. Projects have benefitted non-profit organizations that work with at-risk youths, families of the disappeared, orphans, and disaster victims.
For more info, http://ashevilletravelingbonfires.blogspot.com/ or call Marta Osborne at 828 280 1555 or email pasckie@yahoo.com

ART by Duane Lucas Pascua