A music festival set for Saturday will give attendees a sample of the array of local musicians while raising money for a Bradford church.
#TheQuest Music Festival will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday in the Grace Lutheran Church Community Life Center.
“Basically, the idea for the event is to bring the community together closer and help show there is a place to go and help raise money for the kids,” said organizer Menton Harding.
The music will showcase different musical cultures and different tastes with the goal of bringing people closer together, Harding explained.
Everybody who is helping out is donating their time, Harding noted.
All proceeds from ticket and food sales will go to the Community Life Center. Tickets are $10 each, and food such as hot dogs will be available for purchase.
Selene Machuga, coordinator for the Community Life Center, said Harding has been coming to the center since he was a child.
“Menton has come down to the center since 2005, and what’s really kind of cool is I see (the festival) as a way for him to give back to us.”
Now an adult, Harding still comes to help at the center, and even lends a hand in other ways, such as helping Machuga work in her garden at home this week.
Harding first got the idea about two years ago to “get a bunch of bands together and give people a cause” to support. “I was sitting on the idea for a couple of years. I finally pulled the trigger this year.”
A rap/hip hop artist who performs under the name Mitty Love, Harding has traveled to other cities and even tried out for America’s Got Talent. While he has not always found Bradford a receptive audience to rap and hip hop music, he sees this as an opportunity for area musicians to share all genres of music, and for music-lovers to experience a variety, too.
Bands scheduled to perform include Gary London, Stoneclad, Cattaraugus Creek, Diggin Roots, The Otherside and Mitty Love. More bands are coming on board, too.
The opening ceremony at 11:30 a.m. will include an explanation of the sentiments behind the event.
As Harding explained in a promotional letter to community businesses, “It’s my goal to use my music and music in general to bring not just the community, but the world together through music and inspire others to follow their dreams and goals and to never give up on themselves.”
He hopes the festival can offer a little hope to people who have felt discouraged in life — a feeling he understands.
In his letter, he described being bullied and how that affected his outlook and behavior.
“If we are being honest my life isn’t perfect and I have made tons of mistakes I wish I could take back, but I can’t and that’s a part of being human — accepting the mistakes we made in our life and growing from and learning to become the best version of ourselves,” he wrote.
Giving back to a facility like the Community Life Center means supporting a safe place for local youth to spend time.
Machuga said the Community Life Center is open for any child in the community to hang out between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Then, a “Cross Walk” — a community worship service for youths — is held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Fridays. The service includes a group lessons broken up by age group, followed by a game and pizza.
Anywhere from 10 to 40 youths can be found at any time at the center when it is open, Machuga said.
“I’m just amazed that Menton is doing this. Here’s a young man who came up through the CLC” who wants to give back, she said. “We didn’t ask for it. It’s truly what I see as a Godsend.”
Harding is hopeful the community will welcome the festival.
“It’s for a great cause,” he said. “Just come down and enjoy the event and have fun.”
