Broward County will debut a new cultural season kickoff event on Sunday, Oct. 5, when the Broward Cultural Division presents the inaugural Arts Launch Broward at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. The free community festival runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features live performances, artist showcases, and family-friendly activities.
The event will bring together arts organizations from across the county, giving residents a sneak preview of concerts, exhibits, festivals and arts summer camps planned for the year ahead. The festival will showcase 63 organizations and 18 performances across multiple spaces at the Broward Center
Organizers say Arts Launch is also designed to highlight the rich variety of cultural experiences available across the county.
“I look forward to people discovering, like, oh my gosh — right here in Davie I’ve got this, and I’ve got this, and I really didn’t even realize it,” said Mark Kent, executive director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida, which is participating in the event.
Phillip Dunlap, Broward Cultural Division director, said the inspiration for the event dated back to his time in St. Louis, where the annual art fair served as the unofficial kickoff to the cultural season. When he moved to Broward in 2019, plans for something similar were stalled by the pandemic. Afterward, the Broward Arts Collective approached him with a comparable idea.
“We’d been tossing around the idea of doing this thing we call Arts Launch, and it sounds very similar,” Dunlap said. “If you’re okay with it, I’ll just sort of run with it. It was serendipity on some level — we kind of met in the middle.”
Arts Launch Broward also coincides with Fort Lauderdale’s Sunday Jazz Brunch, a free outdoor concert series on the first Sunday of each month. October’s lineup features Davis & Dow on the Esplanade Stage, Wes Anthony at the Connie Hoffman Gazebo, and the Tommy Nehls Quartet in the Peck Courtyard.
Dunlap said the Broward Center’s role goes beyond simply hosting the event. The venue offers space and technical expertise, along with discounted facilities, while the Cultural Division provides funding.
“They’ve been really great partners in helping on the logistics side of things, coordinating all the tech and managing the rotating performances,” he said
Dunlap hopes the event broadens public awareness of the county’s cultural offerings.
“I hope each attendee discovers a new arts organization they had no idea was here in Broward,” he said. “And I hope they come away with a sense of wonder and excitement about what they found and who they made connections with.”
The lineup includes both major institutions and grassroots groups, from Miami City Ballet, NSU Art Museum and Seraphic Fire to community-based organizations such as the After School Film Institute, Art Prevails Project and Thinking Cap Theatre
Performances range from youth ensembles like the Florida Children’s Theater and South Florida Jubilee Chorus to music by the South Florida Pride Bands and Master Chorale of South Florida.
Kent echoed that theme, describing it as “a festival of arts information and experiences.”
He said he’s most excited to see people connect with local groups for the first time.
“I want to be standing there and see the look on people’s faces as they’re watching the performers for the first time, walking up to a table and discovering what’s right in their own neighborhood,” Kent said.
Dunlap said accessibility is central to the Cultural Division’s mission. While not every program can be free, he noted, bringing dozens of groups together at Arts Launch creates a no-cost way for residents to learn about opportunities they might not otherwise find.
“It plays into our idea of making the arts accessible and trying to break those barriers of accessibility down to the greatest extent we can,” he said.
Kent said events like Arts Launch also help strengthen public engagement at a time when arts funding is vulnerable.
“We have to have the arts become more important to the general public so that they tend to vote for arts funding and not against it,” he said.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Arts Launch Broward
WHERE: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave., Fort Lauderdale
WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 5, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
TICKETS: Free
INFORMATION: broward.org
