The South Jersey Caribbean Cultural and Development Organization (SJCCDO) this Saturday hosts its 19h Annual South Jersey Caribbean Festival at Wiggins Park on the Camden, New Jersey waterfront.
According to Philadelphia-based Kylla Herbert, SJCCDO president and coordinator of the annual Caribbean showcase, the event, which is free to the public, starts at noon and ends at 8 pm.
Herbert has been coordinating the event ever since her father, Nkem Tshombe, a native of St. Kitts and Nevis, died in 2007. Tshombe founded the festival in 2001.
Herbert said the festival showcases Caribbean art, music, dance and food.
“This multi-cultural family event attracts people from the New Jersey and Philadelphia regions, with its dynamic entertainment and Caribbean food favorites, such as jerk chicken, oxtails, curry shrimp, roti and more,” Herbert told Caribbean Life Tuesday night.
“There will be free activities in the children’s tent, community information, health screenings, Caribbean food vendors and free giveaways,” she added.
Herbert said the 2019 South Jersey Caribbean Festival will feature various aspects of the Caribbean culture, including Latin dancers, steel drum, reggae, and calypso and soca music.
“The 19th Annual South Jersey Caribbean Festival will bring the vibrant colors and traditions of the Caribbean to the Camden waterfront, next to Adventure Aquarium,” she said. “Caribbean entertainers will engage the crowd with energetic cultural dance and musical performances on the Wiggins Park concert stage.”
Herbert said among the performers will be Trinidad and Tobago’s international soca sensation, Erphaan Alves, performing his hits, “Overdue,” “Blazin in Love” and “Waistline Peltin”; Philadelphia-based Jamaican reggae artiste Skilli Bangs; Philadelphia Pan Stars Steel Orchestra; Garifuna cultural group performance by Alex Kwebena Colon and the Garifuna Ensemble; and Puerto Rican dance by Domination Dance.
Brooklyn-based youth group Tropical Fete will also perform the latest musical tunes on the steel drum, Herbert said.
In addition, she said “stilt walking and Caribbean masquerade costumes that will surely delight the crowd.”
Herbert said SJCCDO relies solely on donations and sponsors in presenting “this free cultural experience to the community.”
For additional information about the 19th Annual South Jersey Caribbean Festival, or to be a volunteer, vendor or sponsor, contact Herbert at (856) 580-0178, info@
