Berkeley World Music Festival

The free 14th Annual Berkeley World Music Festival happens Friday to Sunday, June 9-11 in various locations citywide. It will feature a dazzling array of performances by some of the Bay Area’s finest artists. This marks the first time the Festival expands beyond People's Park and Telegraph Avenue stomping grounds. Friday night starting at 8 pm, the Festival opens with a free kick-off party at La Peña Cultural Center located at 3105 Shattuck Ave. Evening performances display the cross-cultural exchange between Spain, Peru & Cuba. Afro-Peruvian Peta Robles leads multi-textured drumming of the Cajon. Direct from Spain La Mandanga offers passionate dance music. On Saturday the festival launches its first concert in downtown Berkeley at Civic Center Park, between Allston Way and Center St., Noon to 6 pm. Honoring our ancestral lands Corrina Gould, a Chochenyo Ohlone elder, opens the event, followed by a Chiricahua Nde’ “Apache” performance. Next, award-winning singer Fely Tchaco steps onto center stage infusing lyrical pop into Ivory Coast rhythms. Concert headliners are legendary Fito Reinoso, a top Cuban songwriter, and Zydeco Flames, West Coast’s premier Zydeco band. Fito Reinoso y su Ritmo y Armonia’s sizzling Cuban Salsa, Timba, and Son rhythms reflect Cuba’s street beat and broad musical heritage. Zydeco Flames presents riveting Louisiana funk and R&B as only they can deliver. Saturday festivities also include performances by veterans Alan Hewitt and Summerlynn Rivera (Bluegrass with Clogger) and street music on Shattuck Avenue./////The music feast continues on Sunday with the acclaimed People's Park concert sponsored by Amoeba Music. Guarandinga brilliantly mixes Afro-Caribbean rhythms with East Bay Funk. Ousseynou Kouyate leads Djialy Kunda Kouyate in moving Senegalese melodies and high-impact dance grooves. Ousseynou continues a long family line of “griot” storytellers who carry on the oral history and arts of West Africa. Sunday’s headliner is show-stopper The Mad Maggies, whose Wild Folk Rock Fusion and eclectic styles of music is in itself a festival! ///// Visitors will also be treated to an impressive music tour mainly in Telegraph Avenue shops, Noon to 9 pm. Best starting place on Sunday is the event information booth, located on Telegraph Avenue at Haste St. near UC Berkeley. ///// Duo Gadjo with singer Isabelle Fontaine open Sunday’s music crawl with Parisian café musi Master Shakuhachi player Cornelius Booth follow the music of the Japanese flute into new landscapes at Musical Offerings. China's Spirit Music Ensemble,an all zither string quartet, journeys through China’s classical and folk traditions at Mad Monks. Acclaimed brothers Tsering Dorjee “Bawa” and Tenzin Choegyal share joyful Tibetan folk music and song at Moe’s Books. Incognito Express, a madcap Balkan Brass band performs at Café Milano. Outdoors, Silk Road Caravan’ s Middle Eastern music & dance creates a street scene on Haste Street at Telegraph. Street artist treasures: Spirit of '29 playing Dixieland Jazz, Alan Hewitt on bluegrass mandolin, and Michael Masley on his invented Bow Hammer Autoharp bring uplifting sounds to Telegraph Avenue sidewalks. Macy Blackman & The Mighty Fines delivering New Orleans Blues makes for a powerful finale to the best ever Berkeley World Music Festival! In addition to extraordinary music, the Festival offers a crafts village with food and children's activities daily. There's something for everyone and it’s all free! Schedules will be available at event information booths. Visit www.berkeleyworldmusic.org