Mayor Ron Anders established the City of Auburn Diversity and Inclusion Task Force shortly after he was elected in October 2018. The task force quickly got to work planing a diversity and inclusion festival for 2019. 

Originally planned to take place Oct. 26 at Felton Little Park, the festival has been delayed until next fall. 

“We just determined that we needed more time to execute our plan,” Anders said. “We are still working on it.” 

Because the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force is an entirely new program for Auburn, the festival is the first of its kind. 

The goal of the festival is to celebrate all people regardless of religion and identification. 

It is designed to be as inclusive as possible, said Brittany Branyon, the festival’s coordinator. 

“My vision of the festival is that we see people meet one another, have a good time with one another, share food with one another, that through normal life habits they would not intersect with,” Anders said. “My ultimate hope would be new relationships are forged and new respects are founded.” 

Felton Little Park is still expected to be the location for the festival next fall. Anders hopes as many people as possible will attend. 

In the meantime, another community event is in the works for the spring, and event organizers expect it to be a breakfast with a relevant speaker. 

It will be designed to bring together leaders within the Auburn community. 

The goal of the event is to increase funding for the task force’s programs like the fall festival, Branyon said. 

More information about the spring breakfast event and fall festival will become available as the events draw near.