The 2019 Guilford Performing Arts festival (September 26 to September 29, 2019) will present public shows; multi-cultural/ethnic classes and talks in the schools; a community-service program pairing professional dancers with youth in opioid-addiction treatment; an expanded program of pre/post-performance talk-backs; and a spoken-word track with themes of diversity, the impact of the arts on society, culture & community. CTH funding will expand the festival’s humanities programming with a goal of supporting the town’s efforts to become a more sustainable community by supporting multicultural artists who teach and talk about their work in the schools, curating a spoken-word track, outfitting and running the venues for such events, and catalyzing a series of ongoing talks/dialogues about important issues.