Multicultural Gospel Celebration marks 29 years at the California State Fair
God was front and center at the California State Fair’s Multicultural Gospel Celebration. Held at the PG&E Center Stage from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the state fair on Saturday, 53 different acts had their chance to perform.
The gospel celebration has been a part of the fair since 1995. It originally starting out as an African-American gospel stage but expanded in 2003 to be multicultural.
“Now, when we look in the audience, we see a rainbow of faces,” said Mary Nance, the original organizer of the gospel celebration.
Since the fair represents the entire state, Nance said she makes an effort to reach out across California for performers.
“We’ll have some groups here from Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Modesto, Sacramento, Marysville, throughout pretty much a lot of Northern California,” she said.
Nance said she believes gospel music is underrepresented and an event like this allows the performers to “touch people that’s never going to go to a traditional place where you’re going to hear gospel music.”
“Gospel is one of those types of music that crosses whatever boundary. It transcends racial, economic, social; it’s just feel-good music,” she said.
WHO’S ON THE STAGE
Some performances for the day included children’s choir, praise dancers, worship bands and even a gospel-stage play.
“God’s Trying To Tell You Something” started production 30 years ago and has been a consistent act for the celebration.
The play is a series of vignettes that date back as early as the 1400s in Africa to the 1990s in the United States.
“It’s about how He [God] has brought our people, specifically the African American race, from all the way from slavery to the present time,” said Gregory Allen, one of the performers.
“It tells our story,” added Tiffany Binion Mangum, another performer. “It highlights how the Lord has been with us throughout generations.”
“Who he created us to be and who we are now, despite all the obstacles, despite all the oppressions,” she said.
The entire play is a musical and the performers use original songs to communicate to the audience.
“Music conveys a message in a way that sometimes words simply cannot,” Mangum said.
Yorkquincia Elloie, another performer, is a chapter representative for the Sacramento Metropolitan chapter choir and has been performing at the gospel celebration since it began.
“It’s important to us to come out and spread the gospel music to the community, and this is a great stage to reach the community,” she said.
The chapter choir brings various churches and denominations together under one mission.
“You have people from all walks of life, and people from different backgrounds, and even people who may not have heard gospel music before,” Elloie said.
