The 2005 Ecoarts Festival

Wanted: NMI poets, orators

How would you like to have your original piece featured on KRNM, public radio for the Northern Marianas?

There’s more.

You can win cash and other prizes, too!

The 2005 EcoArts Festival will be holding a Poetry Slam and Original Oratory where local talents may submit original poems and/or oratorical pieces with a theme on the environment.

Each poem should take no less than three minutes when read aloud. Prizes will be awarded to the top three poets.

Poems will be judged based on content, relevance, persuasiveness, originality, effective use of language and imagery.

Oratories, on the other hand, should not be more than 250 words. Prizes will also be given to the top three orators. Participants to the oratory contest should memorize their composition and recite them.

Entries will be judged based on content, relevance, persuasiveness, effective use of syntax, mechanics and vocabulary.

Winning entries will be featured on a special edition of Saipan Novel Hour on KRNM, public radio for the Northern Marianas.

Deadline for submission of entries is on July 22, 2005. Contact Melody Actouka at 235-1320 or 234-5493 ext. 1734 for details. You may also email her at melodya@nmcnet.edu

Entry forms are available at the Division of Environmental Quality at the Gualo Rai Center along Middle Road.

This event brought to you by DEQ, DFS Galleria Saipan, Joeten Enterprises, Pacific Trading, Mobil, Coastal Resources Management Office, Marianas Cable Vision, Elite Printing, Power 99, and Rifu Apparel.

Chefs urged to sign up for Cook-a-Rainbow Challenge

If you love to cook food, then this is an opportunity you would not want to miss: The EcoArts Festival will be holding the 2005 Cook-a-Rainbow Challenge, where you can cook the most colorful recipe using locally grown vegetables.

Not only will you win fabulous cash prizes, you will also get a chance to have your recipe printed in a cookbook, which will be distributed.

The cooking contest aims to promote healthy living and address concerns about diabetes and obesity.

It is open to all chefs— amateur or professional— and would require a dish that includes at least one of the following vegetable colors—red, yellow/orange, green and purple.

There are two categories: professional and amateur.

Entries will be judged based on the following criteria:

* Creative presentation

* Texture

* Originality

* Taste

* Use of fresh local ingredients

Contestants are required to prepare:

* 1 plate three weeks before the contest for recipe book photos.

* 1 plate for judges to taste from.

* 1 plate for presentation.

* A warming tray full for public tasting

The winning recipe will be printed in a cookbook for distribution by the Northern Marianas College Community Research Extension and Educational Services.

Submit an entry to the Division of Environmental Quality in the Gualo Rai Center on Middle Road no later than 4:30pm on July 22.

The 2005 Cook-a-Rainbow Challenge is among highlights of the first-ever three-day EcoArts Festival scheduled for July 29-31. The event, which will be held to promote environmental awareness, is being organized by DEQ, in partnership with various public and private organizations and volunteers.

The cooking contest will take place at the American Memorial Park on July 30, 2005 at 5pm.

For more information, contact Patricia Coleman of NMC-CREES at 234-3690 Ext. 1734; or Lynn Tenorio and Tanya Camacho of the Department of Public Health at 664-4030/3.

The 2005 Cook-a-Rainbow Challenge is a joint activity of DEQ, NMC-CREES and DPH.

Battle of the Bands participants told to submit registration forms

Organizers of the 2005 Ecoarts Festival are urging all musicians who picked up the registration forms for the Battle of the Bands to turn in the forms to Angel S. Hocog at the Commonwealth Council for Art and Culture.

“There have been a lot of people who obtained registration forms. But they have not submitted them,” said Hocog, one of the event’s organizers.

“We’re asking them to submit the forms as soon as they’ve been completed so that we can review and call them back if there is any additional information needed,” he added.

The forms should be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. on July 21, 2005.

The three-day 2005 Ecoarts Festival will kick off with the Battle of the Bands on July 29, 2005 at the American Memorial Park Amphitheater. The event will start at 6:30 p.m.

Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place winners in three categories.

Judging of the band will be based on originality, musicianship, stage presence, crowd response and overall performance.

For more information, contact Hocog at 322-9982/83 or Abdon Kaipat of the Division of Environmental Quality at 664-8529.

EcoArts fest to feature film festival

This year’s first-ever EcoArts Festival, which is being sponsored by the Division of Environmental Quality, will include a Film Festival.

Dubbed the EcoArts FilmFest, the festival aims to feature films from local, regional, and international film makers that promote awareness of tropical island environments like that of the Northern Marianas.

The 2005 EAFF will run competitions in four categories: narrative, documentary, music video, and animation. A panel of judges will determine winners in each category, where the stakes are high, with $1,000 going to first place winners in each category.

2005 EAFF organizer Galvin Deleon Guerrero said he is excited about the possibility of international submissions. “We have ads posted in Pacific Magazine and on www.filmfestivals.com, which, we hope, will bring in entries from outside the CNMI.”

Aside from international submissions, Deleon Guerrero is also looking forward to several local submissions. “The 2005 Flame Tree Film Festival brought in almost 20 entries. That’s proof of a thriving film making community right here on island.”

Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 22. For more information on the FTFF, or to submit a film for the festival, contact Guerrero at 233-6296 or galvin@itecnmi.com.