Veterans for Peace will host its 31st Annual Winter Solstice Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4225 N.W. 34th St.
The event will feature music from Cathy Dewitt & Mark Billman, Cherokee Peace Chant, Drums of Peace, Lauren Robinson, Janet and Maggie Rucker, Quartermoon, Other Voices, The Errelics, Jason Hedges & Sarah Darden, A Choir of Heavenly Semi-Angels, and more, along with readings from our Peace Poetry Contest winners. Bill Hutchinson will be the MC for the event.
If you’ve never been part of a community of 400 people, holding hands and singing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine,’ come experience the possibility of peace and love.
If sold out, standing room will be available outside where the concert can also be heard through large speakers.
Tickets can be purchased in advance from Mcintyre Stained Glass Studio & Art Gallery, Thornebrook Village, 2441 NW 43rd St., #11, for a suggested donation of $15 to $30. Doors open at 6:30pm and the concert begins at 8pm. Advance tickets guarantee admission until 8pm.
Outside the event, organizations and groups from the Gainesville area will set up informational booths and tables. Attendees are encouraged to bring for donation clothing, food and personal items, to be collected and distributed by Helping Hands Clinic. Refreshments will be available.
Parking is available at the event, but is limited (carpooling recommended). Parking attendants will be present to assist drivers.
All proceeds from the celebration will be used to support programs that Veterans for Peace organize year round, including the Memorial Mile on 8th Ave., the Peace Poetry Contest — held for K-12 students in Alachua County — as well as the Peace Scholarship, awarded to two graduating seniors from Alachua County who work for peace and justice.
Proceeds may also help other organizations who work for peace and justice.
Veterans for Peace advocates the abolition of war as an instrument of government policy. For more information about the Winter Solstice Celebration and VFP’s other projects, visit their website at http://www.vfpgainesville.org.