Focus
Festival direction · neighborhood hosts · processions
With the guild since
2015
The keeper of the festival flame
Emily joined Kestrel Guild Alliance as a volunteer drummer and never left the square. Today she directs the Festival of the Arts — booking eighty artists, rehearsing the opening procession, and coordinating the neighborhood hosts who turn their blocks into festival venues.
Her rule is simple: every stage must include a first-timer and a master, side by side. That pairing has launched a dozen young performers into headline slots.
Three questions
What moment made you stay?
My first closing dance — two thousand people moving as one under the lights. I cried through the finale.
What should a newcomer try first?
The Harvest Line at Steps That Tell Our Story. Three steps, linked hands, instant family.
What are you building next?
A youth procession corps — teenagers leading next year’s opening parade with their own choreography.
“Tradition isn’t watched. It’s joined.”