PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 3, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Escape to the Islands without leaving Philadelphia when the 18th Annual Caribbean Festival comes to the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing located at Columbus Boulevard and Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. The festival takes place on August 15 from 12 noon until 8 pm, and celebrates Caribbean culture, music, and food. PECO Energy sponsors the Multicultural Series, and Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the entire 2004 summer season at Penn's Landing.
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 the Caribbean Authentics Steel-Drum Band.
This year's entertainment line-up will feature: the Voices of Africa Choral Ensemble; Larry White & The Majestic Band; Riddem Nation; Yearline and the Haitian Dancers. International Jazz Saxophonist Byard Lancaster will also perform and the Haitian Band Papillion. Dancing is an important part of the celebration and the culture as Latin American dance troupe Raices Culturales performs along with St. Lucian dancer, Tanya. Hip-Hop Spoken Word Artist Cherri Poet; Guitarist Timi Tanzania; and Trinidadian songbird Carera Wilson will all take the stage to perform during the festival.
There will be an array of tempting island cuisine for visitors to enjoy from Vendors; some of them include Alvirai's Kitchen, Island Woman Cuisine, Tony's Caribbean Buffet, Montegonian Delight, A& M Roti, and Dejene Catering. The Caribbean fare will include escovitched fish and festival cakes, codfish fritters, Jamaican jerk-chicken and hard-dough bread, curried goat, and Griot, West African kabob, 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 also be a marketplace of Caribbean fashions, souvenirs, arts & crafts, along with a Caribbean Culture booth -- Tings Caribbean -- headed by African/American Dance Teacher, Mafalda featuring topics about Caribbean history, fashion and religion. Empress Thandi (formerly of Jamaica's Irie FM) and WKDU 91.7 FM Radio (Drexel University) Hopeton Brown will act as the emcees for this event. A Caribbean Children's Village will also be part of this year's event.
This Festival, presented by PECO Energy and the Caribbean Festival Committee, now in its 18th year, works to publicize the importance of the Islands and the culture and the contribution of the Caribbean community to the Philadelphia region and to raise scholarship funds for college students of Caribbean descent.
Reaching out to the diverse communities is a goal for PECO Energy and for the past ten years this has been a huge success at Penn's Landing. "All of us at PECO Energy are thrilled to return to the waterfront with our 10th Anniversary season of support for the multicultural festivals," said PECO president Dennis 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."
Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events.
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 456,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2003, its sales exceeded 36,753 gigawatt hours (gWh) of electricity and 88.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas to residential, business and institutional customers. PECO's energy delivery services generated $4.38 billion in revenue for Exelon. PECO is one of the largest employers and most active corporate citizens in the Greater Philadelphia Region.
Penn's Landing is Philadelphia's Waterfront district, running along Columbus Boulevard from Washington Avenue to Spring Garden Street. The two main sites for the more than 75 festivals, concerts, and events at Penn's Landing are the Great Plaza, located along the Delaware River at Columbus Boulevard and Chestnut Street, and Festival Pier, on Columbus Boulevard and Spring Garden Street. For more information on event locations and event details, call (215) 922-2FUN or visit www.pennslandingcorp.com. Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the 2004 Summer Season at Penn's Landing.
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