The Garifuna Collective (Belize) returns with their new album! Three years in the making, the group has been cooking new music in the studio since their highly-praised tribute album to fallen bandleader and cultural icon Andy Palacio, experimenting with new Garifuna rhythms, recording concepts, and even some “organic electronic” music and dub techniques. The group intends with this album to break loose and redefine Garifuna music for the new generation while maintaining strong roots in traditional concepts and identity.

Over a foundation of ancestral beats, the unmistakable and powerful sound of the two traditional Garifuna drums, along with driving maracas, turtle shells, acoustic and electric guitars and swinging bass grooves blending with evocative melodies and powerful call and response vocals, these artists tell their stories through music and dance. After an intense showcase performance that culminated with the first encore in 15 years at WOMEX 2018, the band is extremely excited to be bringing their music and vibrant culture to the world stage in 2019.

Garifuna culture was forged when slave ships carrying captured Africans wrecked off the Caribbean island of St Vincent in the 1600s. The survivors swam ashore, mixed with the island’s indigenous Arawak population and created a unique and resilient culture that continues to this day to evolve with its own distinctive language, customs and music.

The Garifuna Collective has performed in over 25 countries has been part of the most celebrated Garifuna albums of all time, including the critically acclaimed Wátina, recipient of the WOMEX and BBC World Music Award and voted by Amazon as the Number One World Music Album of All Time.

Whether on a sandy Caribbean beach or before a large international audience, The Garifuna Collective provides an unforgettable, universally enjoyable and deeply moving experience that never fails to captivate audiences of all ages and backgrounds. This is a rare opportunity to experience contemporary Garifuna roots music and performances as distinctive and spirited as the culture from which they spring.

The first edition of Music Meeting was in 1985. The festival was named '1st Multicultural Dance and Improvised Music Meeting', which soon became popularly known as 'Music Meeting'. Up to and including 2003, Music Meeting was held in Concertgebouw de Vereeniging and Stadsschouwburg Nijmegen. Since 2004, Music Meeting has been taking place in Park Brakkenstein. The 35th edition of Music Meeting is on 8, 9 and 10 June 2019, during the Whitsun weekend.

From Belize, The Garifuna Collective comes with its powerful rhythms from the Garifuna tradition, which until some years ago was in danger of dying out. The founder of The Garifuna Collective, Andy Palacio, was a key figure in preserving the musical legacy of the Garifuna people, and after his death in 2008, the collective has kept the music alive, modernized it, and made it rest to meet the globalized future.

The next band is Dizu Plaatjies, the son of a traditional healer, grew up in Cape Town. He is the founder and former leader of the group Amampondo. He toured and recorded with them for 15 years. After leaving that band in 2000 he set up his own group under the name Ibuyambo. Dizu and his musicians record and perform traditional and neo-traditional music inspired by the Xhosa culture. . Colorful, and it swings!

Join us at the 40th Annual Calgary Folk Music Festival July 25 – 28, 2019.

With the stage and Festival grounds at the Kinsmen Beach Greenspace, and Lake Windermere as a backdrop, the Invermere MusicFest: Waterfront Music Festival is set for August 16 & 17 2019 and will be a memorable, entertaining and edgy live music experience for the whole family. Join us on August 16th as we kick-off the Festival with the Friday Night Dance Party, featuring high energy bands, foot stomping tunes and music that will have you dancing the night away.

The Salmon Arm Folk Music Society is a non-profit charitable organization that presents the annual ROOTSandBLUES festival the third weekend of every August. Additionally, the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society presents other Outreach activities in the community and area.

Heading into its 27th year, the Salmon Arm ROOTSandBLUES festival long ago established itself as one of the summer destination spots for fans and lovers of music ranging from Blues to Bluegrass, Celtic to Cuban and Americana to Afro-beat.

From humble beginnings of stand-alone folk shows in Salmon Arm community halls, ROOTSandBLUES grew into a major western Canadian outdoor event that has played host to patrons from all over western Canada and the Pacific North West.

Produced by the not-for-profit Salmon Arm Folk Music Society, ROOTSandBLUES has also been applauded for continuing to help inspire emerging artists from the region as well as presenting some of the province’s most respected musical ambassadors such as Colin James, Kiran Ahluwalia, and Jim Byrnes.