Ahead of Celebrate AMERI’KANA Festival, Art as Mentorship releases tool for supporting Immigrant and Black-owned businesses
AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival 2025 // Photo Courtesy of AMERI’KANA
Before the vibrant festival even begins later this summer, Art as Mentorship and small businesses are encouraging locals to celebrate true Americana by offering an engaging tool:
Passports are now available at places like Café Corazón, Café Cà Phê, and Baba’s Pantry, inviting customers to collect stamps in exchange for prizes redeemable at the free Celebrate AMERI’KANA Music & Arts Festival on August 1.
The passports were released in collaboration with the festival and Art as Mentorship, a youth music program.
“We serve over 300 students a year between in-house and in-school programs across the Metro,” says Juliana Chi, community engagement manager at Art as Mentorship. “The Celebrate AMERI’KANA festival began as a bit of a graduation for some of the kids from our programs, and has evolved to include a professional youth band, Stars Out, on the main stage along with a dedicated youth stage to showcase students’ original songs.”
The festival is family-friendly and will feature kids’ art tents, bounce houses, soccer tournaments and other youth-oriented activities, alongside performances from Making Movies, Radkey, and more.
Both the passports and the festival itself celebrate the achievements of immigrants and people of color, whether in food or music.
“AMERI’KANA gives our students resources to learn about the origins of American music as well as performance opportunities,” says Art as Mentorship’s website.
Small business Passport outside of Yasmeen’s Cafe // Courtesy of Art as Mentorship
“There’s a passion to what the participating businesses do and what they want to deliver. A lot of it is tied to culture, and sharing their culture and heritage with the products that they’re making,” says Chi. “Those are the stories that we wanted to highlight.”
Other businesses participating in the program are: Yasmeen’s Cafe, Afghan Market, Elvira’s Cakes, Jade Jaguar, Vine Street Brewing Co., Ruby Jean’s Juicery, Wah Gwan, La Cubana, Café Ollama, El Mercado Fresco, Wrap it Up, and San Antonio Market. Collecting four stamps earns you a sticker, eight stamps get you an “Immigrants are Beautiful” shirt by Made Mobb, and 12 stamps earn one VIP ticket to the festival valued at $100.
