The Boca De Oro “Mouth of Gold” Festival of Literary Arts & Culture Return’s to Downtown Santa Ana

Bringing Authors, Poets, The Power of Words and Amazing Visual and Performing Art to Downtown Santa Ana

“Mouth of Gold” annual literary, art and cultural festival returns with FREE EVENTS open to the public

Santa Ana, CA (February 18, 2019) – Boca De Oro Festival of Literary Arts & Culture returns for its third year bringing a day of free workshops, panel discussions, author talks and performances throughout Downtown Santa Ana from 10 am till 10 p.m., Saturday, March 2, 2019. For a complete listing of events, authors and a map please visit www.BocadeOro.org.

“Join us for a day and immerse yourself in the literary pleasures and delight of amazing authors, art and all the cultural treasures your will only find in Downtown Santa Ana,” said Madeleine Spencer, Executive Director of Santa Ana Business Council and the Co-founder of Orange County’s growing literary festival. “We are so profoundly grateful to every one of our excellent local businesses, galleries and restaurants who annually open their doors to host authors, panels, performances, and interactive workshops for emerging writers, authors, families and lovers of all things art and literature.”

This year’s keynote speaker, Award Winning Puerto Rican American Author Justin Torres will open Boca de Oro with his book and film, We Are Animals starting at noon at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art.

“Every year the enthusiasm from authors, poets and workshop leaders is spectacular,” said Marcus Omari, founder of the Poetry Reform Society and lead curator of the Boca de Oro Festival. “We not only give our Orange County writers and poets a platform to share their work, but also a place for the public to experience and interact with each one another to create something new and exciting.”

Lead by Visual and Performing Arts Administrator Robyn MacNair, Boca de Oro also features the brilliant showcase of Almas Sonadoras-Dreaming Souls: Youth Elevating the Arts, a day of visual and performing arts events created through this collaboration between Downtown Santa Ana and the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD). The celebration features more than 500 SAUSD students, teachers and faculty showcasing local young talent and the district’s innovative and inspiring arts education programs within the district. This year’s highlight will include readings by the finalists from SAUSD’s first annual 2019 #LITCON a Literary Arts Competition within the district’s intermediate and high schools. The winners will be performing for the first time at Boca de Oro festival.

Highlights from 2019 Boca de Oro include:

• Dancing With the Sun with Jakov Velasco at the California Center for Digital Media Arts in the Santora Arts Building
• Women: a tapestry of words between Syria and Iran at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
• Writers ‘Block Live on The Rocks! In Chapter One’s Red Room
• Chapman/UCI MFA Showcase at Good Beer Co.
• Buena Gente…The Untold Story about the artists and authors who began Orange County’s Chicano Arts Movement in the OC Fine Arts Exhibition Gallery in the Santora Arts Building
• The Parable: Arts & Literary Experience“at the Gypsy Den in the Artists Village
• Wicked Plants & Venus Flytrap Mystery at Makara Center for the Arts
• Reading the Resistance at The Good Beer Company
• Political Poetry of Our Moment Led by Brian Glaser at The Gypsy Den
• Women’s Voices, a panel of authors across multiple genres led by Diana Giovinazzo Tierney, co-creator and producer of the literary podcast, Wine, Women and Words at Alta Baja Market
• My name is Also Freedom with Author & Human Trafficking Survivor Shari Ho at Santa Ana Public Library

For a complete list and schedule, please visit www.BocadeOro.org.

The finale of Boca de Oro is a showcase of performances by the Poetic Reform Party and a celebratory performance by Banda Magda, brought to us by Santa Ana Sites.

Don’t miss this annual day filled with books, poetry, writing, art, music, dance and more. All events are free and open to the public.

Plan your 2019 Boca de Oro experience at www.bocadeoro.org or join our community on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bocadeorofest.

ABOUT BOCA DE ORO FESTIVAL OF LITERARY ARTS & CULTURE

Boca De Oro Festival of Literary Arts & Culture, “mouth of gold” curates diverse and evocative writers, poets, storytellers and artists who present their work through literary readings, workshops, panel discussions, poetry slams, spoken word styles and visual art experiences. The sister component event, Almas Sonadoras is an arts and performance fest featuring young artists, faculty and staff from Santa Ana Unified School District. A Fringe of the March Downtown Santa Ana Art Walk, Boca de Oro is a gift from Community Engagement with Santa Ana’s small businesses through the Santa Ana Business Council in partnership with Santa Ana Unified School District and the City of Santa Ana.

For more information please visit www.bocadeoro.org.