Keith Williams Park (Formerly Liberty Park) entrance at Liberty Avenue and 173rd Street in Queens comes alive this summer when Braata Productions stages the colorful Bankra Caribbean Folk Festival on Saturday, June 18, 2015. The event, which promises to be a day of fun and entertainment for the entire family, gets underway at noon. Admission is free and open to the public.
The Bankra Caribbean Folk Festival will feature traditional authentic folk forms, and experiences from different Caribbean territories. Braata Folk Singers of Jamaica leads an impressive lineup of cultural groups scheduled to perform in a grand concert starting at 4 pm. Folk-Fusion Artist Michael Sean Harris direct from Kingston, Jamaica, Andrew Clarke, St. Lucia Cultural Organization, the one-man band Charley Roots from Guyana, and the United Vincey Cultural Group of Brooklyn round out the explosion of entertainment.
“This is the second time round for Braata with the folk festival, and we are very excited to provide this level of cultural entertainment completely free of cost to the community,” said Andrew Clarke, founder of Braata Productions. “The Caribbean community has so much to offer and this folk festival provides a unique opportunity to showcase our rich and diverse cultural heritage with the residents of the borough and its environs. We look forward to the support of the Queens community and the wider New York tri state area to help ensure the festival is an even bigger success.”
The festival offers a full sensory experience of traditional music, dance, crafts, and food. It will be highly interactive, as patrons can bring their drum or other percussive instrument and join the Drum Circle that will officially kick off the celebrations. Throughout the day we particularly encourage the children to get involved in folk games and dances and engage with one of the main highlights: the Caribbean Folk Tale Exhibit featuring effigies and puppets from the rich Afro-Caribbean storytelling tradition that represents so much of West Indian folklore.
“This event is dedicated to folk forms and folk culture, it will stimulate nostalgia for those who grew up with it, provide learning opportunities for others who had no knowledge of it, and will help reestablish the importance, and relevance of folk as a viable, vibrant contributor to the Caribbean brand,” noted Clarke.
Patrons can get free tickets online at www.braat
