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Desert Sun to host Oktoberfest as fundraiser for local school
By ERIC MUNGENAST
Staff Writer
Published:
Desert Sun Performing Arts Center is hosting the third annual Kids’ Oktoberfest tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Sonic parking lot.
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“There’s going to be lots of fun things to do,” said DSPA artistic director Ceylan Gentilella.
The event itself is free and will feature bounce houses, raffles, a treasure hunt, games, root beer floats, performances by Desert Sun dancers and a raffle, among other activities.
Gentilella said the event began three years ago when it was discovered some middle school students needed help. That first incarnation of this event raised $900 to support those students by providing book bags filled with school items and clothes for gym classes.
Last year, the event raised $1,200 to support special needs students within the Maricopa Unified School District.
This year, the cause is to help fulfill the supplies wish lists of Maricopa Elementary School teachers, with the proceeds stemming from the raffle and vendors.
“We’re just trying to do our little bit,” she said.
Desert Sun is also hosting a rehearsal of its Halloween performance of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Gentillela said the center had 25 people learn the choreography for the dance, and the rehearsal will double as a workshop for people to learn the steps to the famous dance.
This will culminate in a performance at the Church of Celebration “Trunk-or-Treat” event on Halloween at Pacana Park, which will not be hindered by the city’s current overseeding of the park’s baseball fields. That free event is scheduled to last from 5 to 9 p.m.
As part of the performance, which is scheduled for just after a costume contest, the performers will dance in front of a video of Jackson’s video, matching the video step-for-step.
The rehearsal is Sunday at the DSPA center, 19756 N. John Wayne Parkway, from 2 to 4 p.m., and costs $5.
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