LEWISTON – A multicultural festival with food, dance and drama will kick off two weeks of diversity programs sponsored by the Many and One Coalition.

Many and One supporters and members of other community groups announced their agenda Monday for the latter half of January. Programs include religious services, seminars and films.

The programs are designed to commemorate the group’s diversity rally on Jan. 11, 2003, as well as Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 17.

“We wanted to schedule two weeks this year to really lead into February, which is black history month,” said member Tracy Gregoire. “It bridges those commemorations, really honoring the rally and then taking us directly into Black History Month.”

The coalition planned discussions and seminars over 10 days last January, the first anniversary of their Jan. 11 rally. Members said the response was huge. Gregoire said as many as 500 people attended the multicultural festival. She estimated 2,000 people attended events through January.

This year’s event begins with the festival, which is set to run from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, at the Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center. Dozens of organizations will take part.

Teenagers from Lots to Gardens, New Beginnings, the Somali Islamic Mosque and Calvary Lutheran Church will perform, using music, interactive theater, poetry and puppets. The goal is to challenge the audience to identify issues that divide the community.

There will also be a potluck dinner. Events continue Sunday, Jan. 16, with a 10 a.m. interfaith service at 450 College St. and a Martin Luther King Chapel Service at 7 p.m. at the Bates College Chapel.

Bates is also hosting a day’s worth of events, including debates with students from Morehouse and Spelman colleges; a speech by the Rev. John Mendez, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and a performance by The Fruit of Labor Singing Ensemble, the cultural arm of the civil rights and worker rights organization Black Workers for Justice.

Events continue through Jan. 31. Other groups include Bates College, the Lewiston-Auburn Interfaith Clergy, the Maine Peoples Alliance and the University of Maine Gay and Lesbian Archives.