Buddy Fest NW 2018

Thanks to all of our supporters for such a fantastic day and for helping to make our work possible! Thank you to Cody Sullivan, Dan Jarvis-Holland, and our parent speakers for bringing home the importance of high expectations and dreams! Thanks for giving us these reminders: PRESUME COMPETENCE, BE COACHABLE, AND FREE OUR PEOPLE!

Please share your pride by tagging #BuddyFestNW in your photos or sending to buddyfestpix@nwdsa.org. We will gather and post photos soon! Please also continue spreading the word about Down syndrome acceptance to help us towards our goal.  Donations can be made to Buddy Fest NW through October in honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month.  So please share www.buddyfestnw.org and save next year's date -- September 21, 2019 for the 21st Annual Buddy Festival and Walk!

Special thanks to #KGW for covering our celebration and bringing attention to the important work of the NWDSA! Click Here To Watch!

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND
10am-1:30pm
Moda Center Commons

Register online by Sept. 20th
Registration Fees:
Adult 18 & Up:  $15
Child 4 thru 17:  $10
Age 3 & under: Free!

Let's celebrate Down syndrome and the strength of our community! Registration includes a 2018 Buddy Fest NW t-shirt, an accessible walk, food & drink, and all the fun we can pack into a festival!  Online registration is now closed.  Day of registration is available and credit cards will be accepted. Please still join us!

Donations will be collected through October in honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month. Thank you to all our Buddy Fest Supporters!!!

Donations received by Sept. 20th qualify for these prizes (awarded at the walk)

• Teams raising $3,500 or more win an iPad Mini!
• Teams raising $1,500-$3,499 win a Kindle Fire!

Cody Sullivan achieved his personal goals and made history this spring by becoming the first student to complete four years of college in Oregon!  Cody, Matt and James will share about their inclusive college experience, the importance of embracing everyone’s unique talents and abilities, and how we all have something to teach. Cody and his friends look forward to the day that inclusion of people experiencing intellectual disability in all areas of our community is the norm and that celebration of college completion is a personal one and not outside the norm. They have experienced first-hand the strength of community and the positive changes in our lives when we learn, grow, and work together.

Cody Sullivan is a self-advocate, student athlete, Kindergarten teacher aide, friend, boyfriend, son, and brother whose accomplishments been covered locally and nationally.  Matt and James are college classmates and friends who’ve been fortunate to have Cody as a guide. See below.

KGW: Educational achievement for Oregon man with Down syndrome

Inside Edition: Student Makes History

This year marks a very momentous occasion for Daniel Jarvis-Holland and Emma Frome: two childhood friends who had a dream of going to college together and will realize that dream this fall! Raised within the NWDSA community, these young adults are already seasoned advocates for themselves and disability rights. They have been raised to believe in the power of their own dreams and have been allowed their own voice. They have experienced first-hand the benefit of person centered planning, high expectations, and inclusion.  This year Dan has graduated high school from Benson Polytechnic and next year both Emma and Dan will be attending college at Portland State University – an opportunity they both worked to create through their awareness and vision!  Together, along with their parents and a supportive community, they have celebrated accomplishments and worked to create possibilities for themselves and others in our community.

Dan is the son of NWDSA Board President, Steven Holland, and NWDSA Executive Director, Angela Jarvis-Holland, and Emma is the daughter of Angela Frome, NWDSA Program Director. Emma is a fierce friend and Dan is ever working to FREE OUR PEOPLE.

Emcee Tony Starlight • tonystarlight.com

Tony Starlight is a performer and venue owner who's been entertaining Portland and beyond with music and comedy for over 20 years. Tony has lent his talent to us as Buddy Fest NW Emcee for several years.

The Unipiper • unipiper.com

Local legend and keeper of Portland weirdness the Unipiper will be leading the walk!

The Nu Wavers • facebook.com/TheNuWavers/

Blake Sakamoto (Dan Reed Network) shares his love of the music that made memories for generations with his band The Nu Wavers! The Nu Wavers perform your eighties favorites, college radio classics and alternative gems with five distinct singers that capture the diversity of '80s music.

Wallace • facebook.com/wallacetheband/

Wallace is on a mission to move us! A collection of Portland's most stalwart musicians including long time NWDSA supporter, Newell Briggs, have combined forces to share singer/songwriter Erin Wallace's new independent project. Wallace's brand of rock, soul, blues and pop-influence lyricism is guaranteed to shake the shack and raise the roof!

Unicorns! • art.jonashartley.com

Come get a selfie or feed imaginary apples to life-sized paper mache unicorns by Portland artist Jonas Hartley and join in the contest to name the fanciful creatures!