PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 4, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- On Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29 from noon to 8 p.m., the customs of Africa and African Diaspora will be brought to the waterfront for the African American Cultural Extravanganza. The festival, presented by the African Heritage Center, will take place at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, Columbus Boulevard and Chestnut Street. The African American Cultural Extravaganza, is part of the 2004 PECO Energy Multicultural series at Penn's Landing. Entertainment including crafts, food, music poetry, and dancing will be included throughout the day during this event. Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the 2004 Summer Season at Penn's Landing.
The African American Cultural Extravaganza entertainment lineup includes everything from gospel, jazz, blues, reggae, and soulful music. Headline artists include the jazz, R&B, Caribbean rhythms and Brazilian music of Jon Lucien. Lucein's voice captures the essence of romance with his voice, and draws the audiences of the young and the new as well as his regular followers. Philadelphia International Recording artist Damon will provide an R&B sound with some gospel music, and show his love of performing for the audiences. Lazzo, a singer from Bahai, will also give a reggae sound to the extravaganza. The Barbara Walker Story will return to this year's festival with a performance of jazz and gospel favorites. Philadelphia's historic choir Brockington Ensemble will perform their ever-changing gospel sound at this year's event. Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble is well know for playing at local festivals, and will entertain the audiences with their original jazz compositions.
Dance is an important part of this cultural celebration. Dance groups performing include: Universal Creative African Dance, Troupe DaDa African Dance, Kulu Mele African Dance, and The Pointe! (A children's dance group).
The African American marketplace at the Great Plaza will feature traditional African American, Caribbean, and African food and handicrafts. There will be a Children's Area featuring arts and crafts, magicians, storytellers and face painters. There will also be "strolling cultural heroes" and an African dress fashion show. There will be a contest for the best African outfit. In addition several tents and booths will be set up where visitors can learn more about numerous not-for-profit and human service organizations.
The African American Cultural Extravaganza is sponsored by the African Cultural Center and PECO Energy. Admission is free for all PECO 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.
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."
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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