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The Traveling Bonfires
is a non-profit
arts/music/cultural organization that has been actively existing
in Asheville, North Carolina (from New York City) since 2002.
The Bonfires is a multi-format, culturally-diverse
program of community-oriented events. The organization’s
productions consist of closely-coordinated, easy-to-mount,
budget-friendly rock ensemble concerts, unplugged gigs, poetry
readings, multimedia performances, film showings, and cultural
presentations.
BONFIRES FOR PEACE
History
The Traveling Bonfires is a brainchild
of journalist-poet Pasckie Pascua. The program initially
functioned as the advocacy/fundraise subproject of the
nonprofit The Philippine Independent Communication Inc, an
organization established in New York City and registered in
Albany NY in 2000. The program/project relocated to
Asheville, North Carolina in 2002 and has since modified its
organizational structure and target constituents, as well
its mode of programming. The organization also publishes The
Indie, the Bonfires’ partner-organization.
The first "Bonfires" were held amidst the countryside (or
government counterinsurgency) war in the Philippines in the
early 1980s. While covering the Cordillera (northern
mountain provinces) beat, Pascua devised ways to divert the
village folk's attention from the war’s devastation. So he
put up bonfires, attracted people to gather around on
circles, and enjoined them to listen to his poetry and
stories and songs; later he invited other journalists who
were also poets and performers to join the "madness." When
the (Ferdinand) Marcos dictatorship was toppled in 1986, he
formed a traveling band called Duane’s Poetry and founded
Playwrights Mobile (the precursor of The Traveling
Bonfires), and went on the road to do more "bonfires" shows.
The organization also did "gigs" in urban areas, especially
in Manila—advocating issues ie, human rights, street
children, women, workers, peasants, youth, environment,
peace--all the while maintaining a "humane/concerned
citizen" persona than ideological/radical stance. At this
juncture, Playwrights Mobile was renamed The Traveling
Bonfires, and has practically made the rounds of the capital
city’s major rock clubs and poetry reading venues, as well
as campuses.
When Pascua moved to New York City in 1998, he brought with
him the spirit and vision of The Traveling Bonfires and The
Indie. The Bonfires produced similar shows (mostly
collaborations with other organizations/outfits like Brown
Culture) in the Lower East Side, especially at the famed
punk dive CBGBs, Acme Underground, Columbia University, etc.
Since then, The Bonfires has been performing, organizing,
and bookings club, public park and coffee shop concerts,
events, poetry readings/acoustic concerts, to this date, in
New York City, Baltimore and other Maryland towns/cities,
Washington DC, and other towns/cities in North Carolina.
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