LAKE PLACID — Here’s a chance to travel the world without leaving the Tri-Lakes.

The 2020 Adirondack Global Arts Festival, an annual community event to promote culturally diverse arts programming in the Adirondacks, starts on Friday, March 6.

“We created this festival as an opportunity to see, feel, hear, move to and taste all that our world cultures have to share” said Tammy Loewy, co-organizer of the event. “The positivity that is created in the act of experiencing a culture in a deeper, richer sense can be transformative.”

The Festival will begin on Friday, March 6 with the Beat Authority playing global beats at Lake Placid Pub and Brewery from 3 to 5 p.m. Later that evening is a screening of the Academy Award Nominee film “Harriet” at Lake Placid Center for the Arts (LPCA) at 7 p.m.

“Harriet” is the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes, who was a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army and champion of equal voting rights. Immediately following the film is a Q & A with Harriet Tubman biographer and historian Kate Larson.

“We are thrilled to be able to introduce Harriet’s remarkable life of activism to a larger audience,” said Martha Swan, Executive Director of John Brown Lives!

Larson also will be the main speaker at a Saturday luncheon lecture at the Hotel North Woods, 2520 Main St. in Lake Placid. Tickets are $30, and include a buffet, Larson’s lecture and a brief wreath laying ceremony at the John Brown Farm.

On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., a variety of workshops ranging from Flamenco dance, to West African and Taiko drumming, to family yoga, to coffee tasting and a Jamaican/Norwegian singalong will be offered at the LPCA.

An international indoor street fair runs from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering Kenyan and South American goods, Burundi rap music, beer tasting and international food.

“It’s exciting to see so many people come out and try something new. You might come to the festival because you know you like yoga or African dance, and then end up trying tamales for the first time, or maybe Japanese Taiko drumming. said Alison Simcox, Director of Marketing for LPCA.

The weekend will wrap up with two 21-and-up events: tequila tasting at Desperado’s from 5 to 6 p.m. and a World Music Dance Party hosted by David Sommerstein at the Waterhole from 8 to 11 p.m. Dance proceeds benefit the Adirondack Global Arts Festival and Reason 2 Smile.

More information and tickets for the workshops and other events can be found on LPCA’s website at www.lakeplacidarts.org or by calling the LPCA Box Office at 518-523-2512.

The Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Reason 2 Smile, Adirondack Diversity Initiative, John Brown Lives, ROOST and Adirondack Film Society have collaborated to bring this festival to the communities of the Adirondacks. You can learn more about the festival and view the full schedule of events by visiting www.adkglobalartsfest.org.