Sixth Annual Santa Barbara Caribbean Festival Slated For Saturday June 10th

The Sixth Annual Santa Barbara Caribbean Festival happening June 10th, promises to be the best ever, with outstanding musical guests, spicy Caribbean food and a full day devoted to celebrating cultural diversity.

Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) May 14, 2006 -- The Sixth Annual Santa Barbara Caribbean Festival happening June 10th, promises to be the best ever, with outstanding musical guests, spicy Caribbean food and a full day devoted to celebrating cultural diversity.

Virginia Felcher, founder of the festival, has been searching far and wide to bring together the best acts of Salsa, Calypso and Reggae to the stage in beautiful Oak Park. Last year Virginia and the festival received national notoriety when featured on an episode of the Food Network’s Bobby Flay Barbeque Show, viewed by nearly a million food network viewers across the entire country.

At press time, this years musical guests include the gorgeous and talented Melena Francis, a virtuoso Cuban percussionist who has performed with Stevie Wonder, Barry White and Julio Inglesis. Melena’s television credits include the Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, and Saturday Night Live. While this is her first visit to our stage, she has appeared at numerous Latin and Jazz Festivals throughout the country. This year we are also blessed to have appearing one of Trinidad’s favorite sons in Einstein Brown. Einstein’s music combines Reggae, Calypso, Jazz and Funk into a Caribbean musical gumbo sure to please the crowd. Einstein’s steel drumming and music have been featured on numerous television shows, feature films and videos. We are especially thrilled this year to bring to Santa Barbara one of Jamaica’s living legends, the incomparable Shinehead, who, according to Amazon.com, is A stateside dance hall pioneer, who spent part of his childhood in the U.K. and Jamaica before settling in the Bronx and becoming part of the African Love sound system. Never a purist, his over twenty-year career has featured over a dozen releases, covering everything from the Beatles, to Mart Robbins, to Sly & The Family Stone. We welcome this hard to categorize pioneer to this year's festival.

Musical entertainment begins at 11:00 AM, while Caribbean food and drinks will be available all day long. Families and children are welcome at the festival, where kids will have their own ‘Pirate Cove’ area featuring face painting, storytelling and crafts. Portions of the festival proceeds are contributed to IFCO. The Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organizations, which as part of it’s, “Pastors For Peace” program contributes direct relief in the form of food, medicine and clothing to underdeveloped countries. Come join us June 10th and help us celebrate the rich diversity of culture in beautiful Santa Barbara. For additional information, festival schedule and directions to Oak Park, visit our Website at http://caribbean.santabarbara.com or contact Mike Hollywood at contact numbers listed above.   

MEDIA CONTACT        FESTIVAL INFORMATION NUMBERS
Mike Hollywood        Virginia Felcher
Phone (805) 696-6789 Phone (805) 687-4701
Fax (805) 560-7660     Fax (805) 687-3683
E-mail: bimbolimbotravel @ aol.com
E-mail: caribbeangal_virgie @ hotmail.com

# # #