FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Laurie Curtin
Penn’s Landing Corporation
215-629-3218
267-228-1990 (cell)
CARIBBEAN FESTIVAL 2005 PART OF THE PECO ENERGY MULTICULTURAL SERIES,
CELEBRATING CARIBBEAN CULTURE AT PENN’S LANDING
Philadelphia, PA (August 1, 2005) Escape to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia for the annual Caribbean Festival. Feel relief from the summer heat and unwind on the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing located at Columbus Boulevard and Chestnut street. The FREE festival of Caribbean culture, music, and food takes place on August 21, 2005 from Noon – 8:00 p.m. The celebration is one of ten festivals in the PECO Energy Multicultural Series and part of the 2005 summer season at Penn’s Landing, presented by Independence Blue Cross.
A culturally rich celebration of 14 Caribbean Islands will treat you to wholesome family fun in a beautiful atmosphere with a line-up of authentic island sounds of Reggae, Roots International beat, Soca/Calypso, Hip-Hop, Gospel, creative dances, ethnic poetry, and the pulsating sounds of a Caribbean Steel-Drum Band.
This year’s entertainment line-up will feature: the Bagga Riddim Band; Voices of Africa Choral Ensemble; the Kuumba Dance Troupe. Panamanian UVA LaPanna Poete and Uni Lasana will stir you up and satisfy your soul with their Spoken Words. Dancing is an important part of the celebration and the culture as Wilmington, Delaware Caribbean Culture Dancers and Philadelphia Fly Girlz will perform from folklore to Modern dancing. St. Vincent’s Errol Rose, aka “De Manage” will put you in a dancing mood with his renditions of calypso/soca mix; and a host of others will all take the stage to perform during the festival.
Fragrant aromas will surround and grace The Great Plaza as the vendors prepare a variety of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy. Some of them include The New Yellow Bird Inc.; Kernif Gayle/TCB; Jamaica Wings, ata Jamaica Jerk Center; O’Kief Inc., dba Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill; A & M Roti; D’Jenne Catering and Paradise Caribbean Cuisine. The Caribbean fete will include escovitched fish and festival cakes, codfish fritters, Jamaican jerk-chicken and hard-dough bread, Jamaican Patties, curried goat and rice & peas, Trinidadian Roti, Rotisserie Roasted Corn. Local beverages like Caribbean Kola Champagne, Sorrell, Caribbean Ade, Carrot juice and Mauby drink, and fruit, such as mango, water coconut, sugar cane, guinnep will also be available.
This year’s event will be complimented by a marketplace of Caribbean fashions, souvenirs, arts & crafts, along with a Caribbean Culture booth – Tings Caribbean –headed once again by African/American Dance Teacher, Mafalda featuring topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. Empress Thandi (formerly of Jamaica’s Irie FM); Java Immanuel of WURD Radio 900 AM and Publisher of the Reggae Calendar,and Roger Culture of WKDU 91.7 FM Crew will grace the stage as emcees for this event. A children’s popular – Caribbean Children’s Village will also be part of the even. Adding to the Children Village will be an African-Caribbean culture awareness and teaching the creation of the “Maypole”.
This Festival, presented by PECO Energy and the Caribbean Festival Committee, now in its 19th year, works to publicize the importance of the Islands and the culture and the contribution of the Caribbean community to the Philadelphia region and, importantly, to raise scholarship funds for college students of Caribbean descent.
Admission is free for all PECO Energy Multicultural Series events. PECO Energy presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing. Supporting the region’s diversity has been a longstanding goal for PECO, who has sponsored the multicultural festivals at Penn’s Landing for the past ten years. “All of us at PECO are thrilled to return again to the waterfront to support the multicultural festivals,” said PECO president Denis O’Brien. “Penn’s Landing is a Philadelphia summertime tradition and the PECO Energy Multicultural Series is a fun way for us to celebrate the wide range of diversity represented in our service territory.”
PECO Energy is proud to be Philadelphia’s hometown energy company and one of the region’s most prominent civic supporters. PECO is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and celebrating diversity inside and outside the Company.
Based in Philadelphia, PECO Energy is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC). PECO serves 1.5 million electric and 460,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2004, the company delivered 37.5 million megawatt hours (mWh) of electricity and 87.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to residential, business and institutional customers. PECO’s energy delivery services generated $4.49 billion in revenue for Exelon. Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region’s most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary season, Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the 2005 Summer Season at Penn’s Landing. Penn’s Landing is Philadelphia’s Waterfront district, running along Columbus Boulevard from Washington Avenue to Spring Garden Street. The main sites for the more than 50 festivals, concerts, and events at Penn’s Landing is the Great Plaza, located along the Delaware River on Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street. For more information on event locations and event details, please call (215) 922-2FUN or visit www.pennslandingcorp.com. The Penn’s Landing website is a virtual resource for the waterfront which can help plan a visit to easily park, play and stay all day at Penn’s Landing.
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