On Tuesday, June 14, the Three Rivers Art Center for Kids will host its seventh annual RiverDrums event at Promenade Park from 4-10 p.m. 

RiverDrums is a free, multicultural celebration focusing on diversity and unity. 

The opening ceremony will celebrate peace, with Mayor Tom Henry on hand and artistic director Patty Hunter reading her poem, “Ukraine Plight.” 

Ukraine native Tatyana Hutcherson, who organized a Fort Wayne rally for Ukraine in March, will also be part of the ceremony. 

The opening ceremony will also include RiverDrums’ staff and their children singing, “We Shall Overcome.”

RiverDrums will feature an array of new performers this year. 

The first of these is the Terrible Orchestra, a 25-person group that was founded as a nonjudgmental space to give lapsed musicians a second chance to perform. 

Also joining the event is the Fort Wayne Scottish Pipes and Drums Band, bringing bagpipes to the festival for the first time. 

Lastly, RiverDrums will welcome Pimyotamah Hartleroad, a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. 

This tribe originated in what is now Fort Wayne, before being removed by force. Hartleroad is joining the event as this year’s drummer.

Returning performers include KelsiCote with her cultural fusion of North and South American music, flutist and storyteller Ginger Karns, Blind Uncle Harry’s hillbilly-hippie shreddin’ folk rock, martial artist Steve Basche, Amaneceres de Mexico dance, Middle Eastern drumming and dancing with Adam Riviere and Lauren Conklin, German Tanzer Folk Dance, Cherokee award-winning flutist Ken Noland, Sweetwater drumming with Doug Laughlin, and Pyroscope Entertainment Fire Dancers

There will also be a silent auction and vendors in the pavilion from 4-7 p.m., with food trucks also on hand. A demonstration by Soarin’ Hawk Raptors Rehabilitation will also be held, and TinCaps mascot Johnny TinCap will take pictures with the kids.

RiverDrums hopes to act as a community-wide bonding event, honoring diversity and celebrating the commonalities in humanity.