Beginning on Saturday morning, the city will host a Ghanaian Picnic and Music Culture Festival at Hartley Park, while Jamaican heritage will be celebrated later that night at the 3rd Annual Street Dance as part of the Mount Vernon Summer Breeze Concert Series.
The Thirst for Water ceremony, which is set to raise awareness of the lack of clean water in Ghana, will kick off at 11 a.m. with a “Durba” a traditional parade of kings and chiefs of the village, that will begin at City Hall before concluding at Hartley Park.
There will be a drum procession accompanying the parade, which will lead to a community picnic at the park. There will be live music performances and a show beginning at 2 p.m. and concluding at 7 p.m.
The daylong celebration will continue at 4 p.m., as several Jamaican artists, headlined by Sean Kingston, will host a concert lasting well into the night. In previous years, the street dance has drawn thousands of residents to South Fourth Avenue (between Second and Third Street) who literally took to the phrase “dancing in the streets.”
The Summer Breeze Concert celebrating Jamaican heritage will conclude at 11 p.m.
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