This is a story not of something large and successful but of something small, mustard seed small. We do not have a big budget, instead we survive by gifts of time, talent and love. To be a part of this is not cheap. It costs. It costs because it is a gathering of people seeking to speak truthfully through art. It costs because it is an event where the young meet the old and the ignored meet the loved. It costs because to truly be a part of it you have to give something of your own self. We all have something different to give.

We do not compete with other festivals because to compete is to enter the race. We do not dream of winning that race. We exist in the underground. It is not the underground determined by the shape of the buildings above but it is the underground that is being built into a new overground. We occupy rooms and spaces that others have deserted and meet there the oppressed, the ignored and the feared. It is with these that we will grow and develop.

Our purposes are not for ourselves. We have received much and so we want to give much. We want to share our dreams and our ideas. We want to share our words, pictures and sounds. We want to give of ourselves.

This is Xpresso Arts Festival.