Biennial Of The Americas Celebrates Culture, Business Connections
By Libby Smith
DENVER (CBS4) – Denver will host the Biennial of the Americas in September this year. The ideas, arts, and cultural event will run Sept. 12-16 with various symposiums, working groups, and cultural celebrations.
"The goal is that people come together and talk about culture, and then, once they get to know each other and build up a relationship and ultimately trust, then they can do business together," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.
LINK: Biennial of the Americas
The Biennial of the Americas will kick off with a preview party on May 19. Tickets will go on sale for that on March 13. There will be arts and cultural events throughout the summer, and then the week-long festival in September. Business, civic, and cultural leaders will meet during that week to talk about challenges faced throughout the hemisphere.
"I think a lot of what we're doing about getting better yield out of the water we have, a lot of these innovations that come out of Colorado have direct applications in Latin America, or even to a certain extent in Canada," Hickenlooper explained.
As part of the Biennial celebration, Hickenlooper and 40 civic leaders from Colorado traveled to Cuba a few weeks ago.
"The experience was amazing because Cuba is changing," Hickenlooper told CBS4.
The Colorado contingent met with entrepreneurs and government ministers while in Cuba and got a good look at what Cuba looks like now.
"It's a decent size country that we should be doing business with," Hickenlooper said. "They import a huge amount of their food from Asia, from China and other countries. Well, if they're looking to import wheat, I think we can provide better wheat at a lower price. If they're looking to import beef, which they do, I think we can provide a higher quality at a lower price just because of our geography, where we are."
The Biennial of the Americas schedule:
- May 19, Biennial Preview Party
- September 12, Opening Night Gala
- September 13, MCA Opening: Know-how
- September 14, Americas Symposium
- September 15, Biennial Night
Libby Smith is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. If you have a story you'd like to tell CBS4 about, call 303-863-TIPS (8477) or visit the News Tips section.
