A feast of FESTIVALS

Do you know what kobudo is? Or whether the capital of Japan is Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka? You can find out -- and eat very well, too -- at JapanFest, an event that brings a bit of Asia to metro Atlanta every September.

Into parades? The Festival Peachtree Latino Atlanta offers a vibrant one each August. In June, the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival offers two parades.

Because of metro Atlanta's ethnic, cultural, racial and religious diversity, the calendar is chock-full of festivals celebrating religion, food, crafts, music and traditional dress.

Here's a rundown of some of the biggest.

PARKER C. SMITH/Special

The Forces of Nature Dance Theater Company performed during the 2006 National Black Arts Festival.

National Black Arts Festival: The 10-day-long NBAF -- an often mind-blowing celebration of theater, dance, music, visual arts, literature, spoken word performances and film -- is the biggest of them all, last summer drawing more than 300,000 visitors from all over the United States, spokesman Eric Thomas said. Participants come from all over the country and all over the world, as well as from your backyard.

The NBAF isn't the city's oldest festival -- the decades-old Atlanta Greek Festival owns that distinction -- but it is the most ambitious, with more than 200 performances, 60 consultants and 2,000 volunteers pumping energy into it every year.

The festival began as a biennial event in 1988; in 2001, it became a yearly occasion. From its fairly small start in Piedmont Park, it has grown to embrace all corners of the city, with as many free events as there are ticketed ones.

Look for a really big blowout in 2008, when the NBAF, steered with smarts and sensitivity by executive producer Stephanie Hughley, celebrates its 20th anniversary. This summer's extravaganza is scheduled for July 20-29, with a spotlight on what's being called the DNA Project.

It began three years ago, when NBAF leaders began talking to visual artist Radcliffe Bailey about a collaborative work that would focus on DNA and would include choreographer Fatima Robinson and composer Marc Anthony Thompson (a.k.a. Chocolate Genius). Each artist had his or her DNA tested. Each, surprisingly, was linked to the Senegambia region of Africa, so the three, along with NBAF leaders, traveled to Senegal and The Gambia to do research for the DNA Project.

In addition, NBAF patrons will be able to track their own DNA with the help of African Ancestry Inc., a Washington, D.C., company that is partnering with the festival.

"Wouldn't it be funny," Hughley said, "if, when people do their DNA, we find out that we're all from the same place? Some people went north and got light? Some people went south and got dark?"

For information, go to www.nbaf.org.

Atlanta Greek Festival: Being Greek is as much a state of mind as it is a nationality, organizers of this 30-year-old-plus celebration say.

The Atlanta Greek Festival, which is held for four days each October on the picturesque grounds of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation on Clairmont Road in Atlanta, is one of the largest of its kind in the Southeast, organizers say. Its attractions include continuous live music, food (who can pass up a gyro or a baklava sundae?), cooking demonstrations, Greek dancing and a children's entertainment area.

The 2007 celebration will be Oct. 4-7. Can you say "opa"?

For information, go to www.atlantagreekfestival.org.

Atlanta Gay Pride Festival: Deep into this annual June celebration's third decade, questions include, "Is Pride still relevant?" and "Isn't it just a big party?"

Yes and yes, said fest programming director Jennifer Sheffield, who's been part of the Atlanta Pride Committee, the event's sponsor, for eight years.

The festival, which celebrates its 37th birthday June 22-24, will have the usual attractions: a commitment ceremony, VIP party, entertainment, marketplace and parades. But "every year it's a new event," Sheffield said. "We always try to grow a little bit."

To that end, 2007 Pride will take a global perspective with its theme of "Our Rights, Your Rights, Human Rights." The festival will feature presentations on and discussions of freedoms that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has in metro Atlanta but doesn't enjoy in other parts of the Southeast and throughout the world. And remember: You don't have to be gay to attend.

For information, go to http://new.atlantapride.org/info/festival.

JapanFest: This 21-year-old event is moving out. After 10 years at Stone Mountain Park, the annual celebration of Japanese culture will relocate Sept. 29-30 to the Gwinnett Center in Duluth. Bye-bye, weather worries. Hello, air-conditioned, state-of-the-art facility.

The change, said spokesman Ryan Pelkey, ensures that the sponsors -- the Japan-America Society of Georgia, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia and the consulate general of Japan -- can hold a festival every year. It also means much more room for cooking demonstrations and the popular food booths.

Kobudo, by the way, can be translated as "old martial way" and is an ancient martial art that sometimes uses weapons.

For information, go to www.japanfest.org.

Festival Peachtree Latino Atlanta: This August festival was created in 2000 with the purpose of gathering different races and cultures in one day.

It's already considered an international event as well as a link between corporations and the Hispanic community in metro Atlanta, organizer Ray Ortega said. Attendance peaked at more than 80,000 in 2005 and always tops 40,000, he said.

The daylong event at Underground Atlanta attracts Anglo-Americans, Mexicans and Colombians as well as visitors from Puerto Rico and other locations in the Caribbean and South America. People come for the art and culture and for the Latin talent, Ortega said.

Another big draw is the parade, at which marchers representing various Hispanic groups are joined by clowns, floats, school bands, mariachis and celebrities from the sports, entertainment and media worlds.

For information, go to www.festivalpeachtreelatino.com.