Dina Massachi previews CharlOz festival for the Charlotte Observer
Dina Schiff Massachi, CharlOz project director, was interviewed by The Charlotte Observer to preview the scope of the events offered during the CharlOz festival from Sept. 26-29.
Massachi discussed the origins of the festival when she was teaching a “The Wizard of Oz” class and had the desire to amplify the outcomes of a wonderful class that was not able to meet in person during the pandemic. “Here I was with one of the greatest classes I ever taught in my whole life, and now we’re on Zoom, and that just stinks,” Massachi said. “We even published an article together in “The Baum Bugle,” the International Wizard of Oz Club’s journal,” Massachi said. She serves on the club’s board of directors.
The festival will feature speakers, authors, artists and free events for all audiences. Massachi compared the making of the festival with help all across Charlotte to the story of Oz itself.
“This is the magic of Oz,” said Massachi. “You have Dorothy, and she goes on her journey and she picks up the scarecrow and the tin man and the lion. And if we go to Baum’s book, there’s a couple of extra characters she meets along the way that help out, too.”