FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Music festival to again showcase area talent and raise funds for Manos Internacional, a Miami-based global non-profit that funds educational programs
Little Haiti, FL – August 13, 2019 – The City of Progress’ beloved music festival is back after a lengthy absence. Spurned by Chuchill’s Pub mainstay Rat Bastard and timed to coincide with the local music Mecca’s 40th anniversary celebration, event founders and organizers / Hialeah natives Ferny Coipel and Tony Landa (Humbert) decided the time was right to bring Hialeah Fest back. Set to take place on Saturday, September 7, 2019, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., the event will feature more than 20 bands on three stages, which will again be known as the Jupiña, Materva and Malta Hatuey stages. Cover is $7 and proceeds will go towards the 501(c)3 Manos Internacional, founded by another Hialeah boy made good, John Alvarez.
“Until we pressed pause, Hialeah Fest was the longest-running South Florida music festival,” says Coipel. “Over the years we had so many people asking time after time ‘When is the fest coming back?’, ‘Is Hialeah Fest happening this year?’, ‘Is it happening this year?’, and it was just on indefinite hiatus. I am glad that we are able to put this back together for the kids of Manos, and the arts community.” Coipel plays keyboards / guitar and is a founding member of Humbert, which is one of the festival’s main acts and has been for years, and I Don’t Know, which anchored the event prior to Humbert forming in 1999.
“We’re only doing this because Rat made us do it,” offers Landa. “He just kept harassing us until we finally agreed to do it. Hialeah Fest existed all those years in part because of Dave Daniels and Churchill’s, and now it will exist at least one more time because of Rat.” Landa plays bass and is also a founding member of Humbert; he is also the bassist for I Don’t Know. In addition, he runs the outstanding local music blog Dig Under Rock, which is dedicated to promoting and documenting local and national music in South Florida, and is Hialeah Fest’s official media sponsor.
Featured acts include: Afrobeta, Beyond the Boundary, The Brand, Brute, Electric Piquete, Electric Supply Company, H -OM, Humbert, Medina, Nekromaniak, the Nag Champayons Present: Psychedelic Jazz Practice, Stereo Joule, Dama Vicke, and more to be announced.
Hialeah Fest was founded in 1994, and was an annual occurrence until 2013, when Landa bowed out due to a family health issue. Coipel did not think it was appropriate to carry it on without him. However, this year is a different story. “The climate is right,” he says. “Things have aligned.”
Manos helps educate children around the world, including Mexico and China; learn more at manosintl.org.
There is a special surprise tribute in the works. Churchills is located at 5501 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33137. For more information, visit the Facebook event page or call the venue at 305.757.1807.
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