Music lovers will have lots of opportunities to catch free, live performances in Maple Ridge – starting tonight, Friday, June 24.
At 6 p.m. in Memorial Peace Park, Asi Somos and Marlin Ramazzini will be performing for a Multicultural Collaboration Night.
Asi Somos will be performing traditional Venezuelan music that encompasses European, Caribbean and African influences. Their style of music is described as engaging, yet unpredictable and haunting. The group performs music from every corner of Venezuela, taking their audience on a journey of music and culture.
Ramazzini is a Juno Award nominee, a recipient of the Vancouver Inspirational Latin Award and Guatemalan Cultural Association Award, and is one of the most versatile and accomplished Latin singers on the West Coast.
The songstress grew up in Guatemala, and was inspired to start singing by listening to Cuban rhythms on the radio. Ramazzini won a major talent competition at the age of 12 and would eventually settle in Vancouver in 1990, where she quickly became a pillar of the local Latin scene.
All summer long there will be live music, entertainment, and activities in the downtown park on Wednesdays and Fridays for Summer Happenings.
Activities start on July 6 with Nature Days and run every Wednesday until Aug. 31, and will include: a family sports night, adventure night, bounce the park evening, family games night, and builders night.
Concerts run every Friday night until Sept. 2.
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On Friday, July 8, the concert series will feature Blues Night with Dalannah Gail Bowen, a 76-year-old Afro-Canadian Cherokee singer, songwriter, actress, play writer, story teller, event producer, and social activist.
She was an International Memphis Blues Awards semi-finalist in 2017, and a Blues Hall of Fame Master Blues Artist in 2015. The artist has been music-making for more than forty years in the Canadian blues, rock and soul scene.
Summer Happenings take place from 6-8:00 p.m. in Memorial Peace Park and will include food trucks in the south plaza off 224 Street.
For a full lineup of Summer Happenings go to mapleridge.ca/2308.
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