Community Arts and Culture to Present Dia de los Muertos Celebrations in Doral and Islamorada with Ameyal

Miami-based non-profit and Mexican cultural organization host events at Doral Yard October 31 and the Florida Keys Brewing Company on November 2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Miami, FL – October 5, 2021 – Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a traditional Meso-American celebration of ancestors that precedes Halloween on October 31 and All Saints’ Day on November 1, and coincides with the Roman Catholic All Souls’ Day on November 2. Because Mexican-Americans encompass the largest Hispanic group in the U.S., and since going mainstream with the Disney Coco smash film in 2017, the holiday has become even more commonplace as a way to honor the departed. It’s a day of remembrance, prayer, love, and celebration. 

Community Arts and Culture has been partnering with the Ameyal Mexican Cultural Group for some time now, and in 2021, the two organizations will once again team up to bring Day of the Dead celebrations to the new Backyard area in The Doral Yard (8455 NW 53rd St Suite 106, Doral, FL 33166) on Sunday, October 31, and the Florida Keys Brewing Company (FKBC), which is located at 81611 Old Hwy, Islamorada, FL 33036, on Tuesday, November 2. 

Both events will feature live traditional Mexican folk music, a procession, airbrush face painting, and a calavera (sugar skull) station, and are free and open to the public beginning at 5 p.m. 

“We’re extremely excited to once again count on the wonderful cultural ambassadors from Ameyal to bring this beautiful celebration to our supporters,” says event coordinator Renee Chavez. “Our organization prides itself on bringing musical and artistic events to underserved communities, and we are happy to branch out into the Doral and Islamorada communities with something like this for the first time. Our sincere thanks to the Doral Yard and the FKBC for their support.” Chavez spearheads the Inheritants, the group responsible for organizing these events. 

The Doral Yard is a community gathering space designed to foster local entrepreneurship and culture, created by the Yard Hospitality and Place Projects teams. Expanding on The Wynwood Yard concept, the venue brings culinary delights, live entertainment, and round-the-clock events to Downtown Doral. A 20,000-square-foot space is divided into two indoor / outdoor zones: The Hub and The Backyard, which includes a full liquor bar, a grassy turf area for gathering and dancing, and a stage; the outdoor space is fully covered. Visit DoralYard.com for more details. 

FKBC is the gateway to the Morada Way Arts District in Islamorada and was founded with the hopes of bringing great beer to the island chain and beyond. All of their island-themed beers are brewed with top-quality ingredients to make the best beer possible. The tasting room faces the Old Highway, but there is a private residence for rent on the second level, and an expansive beer garden out back complete with an outdoor stage. Learn more at FloridaKeysBrewingCo.com. 

Ameyal is dedicated to fomenting and spreading popular Mexican culture by focusing on sharing the richness of its cultural heritage through four pillars: pre-Hispanic dance, traditional music, folkloric ballet, and cultural dissemination. Their intention is to create a welcoming epicenter that supports all stakeholders in the community during the cultivation of Mexican artistic expression. To learn more about them, navigate to Ameyal.org. 

The Inheritants Project is an ongoing Miami-based program established in 2012 that incorporates students and their mentors, and children and their parents, performing together on a professional platform. Inheritants cultivate the art of oral tradition, and is a commitment to preserve and honor true authentic cultural engagement at a community level through cultural education, land awareness and stewardship, and art experience. 

For more information, please visit CommunityArtsandCulture.org. 

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ABOUT COMMUNITY ARTS & CULTURE
Incorporated in September 2002, Community Arts and Culture, Inc. (CAC) is a Miami-based non-profit organization that fosters an appreciation and understanding of a vast assortment of arts and cultures through workshops, lectures and artistic performances in local communities for individuals of all ages and social backgrounds.

For more information, please visit CommunityArtsandCulture.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Mut Communications
Michael Mut
786.426.2277
info@mutcomm.com

EVENT LINKS:

Facebook event – Doral

Facebook event – Islamorada

Sugar skull fundraising ticket – Doral

Sugar skull fundraising ticket – Islamorada

Afro Roots Fest Returns to Islamorada Memorial Day Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Florida Keys Brewing Company and the Morada Way Arts & Cultural District to once again host the award-winning world music concert series

Islamorada, FL, May 11, 2021 — The 23rd season of the award-winning Afro Roots Fest makes a second run to the Florida Keys on Saturday, May 29, and Sunday, May 30, 2021 to the Florida Keys Brewing Company (81611 Old Highway, Islamorada, FL 33036). The event will feature live music on both days by JUke and Electric Piquete  (Saturday), and Electric Kif and the Nag Champayons (Sunday), beginning at 6 p.m. both days. All ages are welcome and a donation of $10 will earn attendees an official festival swag item.  

“It feels good to finally bring the festival back to Islamorada after a year where much of the musical programming in the Florida Keys was cancelled,” says festival founder and musical curator Jose Elias, who also serves as the executive director for the presenting non-profit organization Community Arts and Culture (CAC). 

“Our thanks go to the Florida Keys Brewing Co., Keys ICE, the Morada Way Arts & Cultural District, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.” Elias is also the co-founder and guitar player in the Nag Champayons, one of the festival’s featured performers. 

Here is the complete Islamorada schedule / lineup:

JUke and Electric Piquete (May 29)

Electric Kif and Nag Champayons (May 30)

JUke is a four-piece “post-blues” hybrid with a high motor and bottomless soul. Spearheaded by frontman / harmonica player / singer Eric Garcia, the band’s content touches on non-traditional subject matter while simultaneously keeping the crowd moving with a smile on their faces. They are jam festival favorites, appearing at events such as Wanee, Hulaween, AURA, Magnolia Fest, and the Orange Blossom Jamboree. Learn more at jukepostblues.com.

Electric Piquete is a two-time Miami New TimesBest of Miami “Best Latin Band” award-winning Latin funk outfit. The band has played virtually all major events in South Florida, and their influences are as diverse as the Miami region that birthed them: from rock to jazz, funk, Afro-Caribbean, progressive and R&B. Though mostly instrumental, the band does feature vocals and rapping on several numbers; a tight rhythm section and heavy percussion supports melodious horn play. More details available at ElectricPiquete.com.

Electric Kif are a Miami-based power quartet that explore the boundaries between rock, jazz fusion and electronic drum & bass. Made up of bassist Rodrigo Zambrano, keyboardist Jason Matthews, drummer Armando Lopez and guitarist Eric Escanes, the “Kif” describe their music as “post-nuclear,” a dynamic mash of hard hitting groove, high octane riffs and cosmic melody. Their powerful live show brings an unparalleled energy and sound to the stage and displays a new experience every night. More: electrickif.com.

Miami’s Afro Galactic / Tropidelic funksters the Nag Champayons blend African, Caribbean and North American influences into a unique and extremely danceable sound. Their most recent release is the single and video for “Brazilian LSD”, which served as a follow up to 2015’s masterful Rising Sounds of a Sinking City, a darkly serious and ominous 21-minute environmentally-conscious theme. Visit NagChampayons.com for more information.

For more information, visit floridakeysbrewingco.com or call 305-664-9722. Check www.AfroRootsFest.com for updates; more information about CAC is available at www.CommunityArtsandCulture.org. 

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ABOUT COMMUNITY ARTS & CULTURE

Incorporated in September 2002, Community Arts and Culture, Inc. (CAC) is a Miami-based non-profit organization that fosters an appreciation and understanding of a vast assortment of arts and cultures through workshops, lectures and artistic performances in local communities for individuals of all ages and social backgrounds.

CAC has a track record of community collaborations which have earned the support of many other organizations and sponsors, such as the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Guanabanas Island Restaurant & Bar, the Florida Department of State’s Division of Cultural Affairs, the City of Miami Beach, the Little Haiti Cultural Complex, the Moksha Arts Collective, Miami-Dade College, the MonroeCounty Tourist Development Council, and the Rhythm Foundation. These harmonious relations help CAC fulfill their co-presenting mission to the community.

In 2018, Executive and Artistic Director Jose Elias was recognized by the Knight Foundation as a Knights Art Champion, which allowed him to donate $10,000 to CAC for the production of the 2019 season of events. In 2019, Afro Roots Fest was named “Best Music Festival” by the Miami New Times in weekly’s “Best of Miami” edition. Organizers produced a “Virtual Fest” successfully live streamed from the North Beach Bandshell  for the first time ever in September of 2020. An all-new membership program launched in March of 2021.

For more information, please visit www.CommunityArtsandCulture.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Mut Communications
Michael Mut
786.426.2277
info@mutcomm.com

Afro Roots Fest Returns to Islamorada on Memorial Day Weekend

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Community Arts and Culture presents a day of live entertainment at the Morada Way Arts & Cultural District Sunday, May 26 featuring the Spam Allstars, Grupo Barrio Abajo, Morikeba Kouyate, David Feder, FABI, and Venezonix   

Islamorada, FL – May 7, 2019 – The annual Afro Roots Fest concert series returns to the Morada Way Arts & Cultural District during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Last year, the event drew world music lovers from all over South Florida to the Florida Keys Brewing Company,and enjoyed a day-long run of live music, vendors, and musical workshops. This year, the lineup will feature another eclectic roster with some familiar faces on Sunday, May 26 at 151 Morada Way, Islamorada, FL 33036, beginning at 3 p.m. All ages welcome; $10 suggested donation. 

“We’re excited to be back in lovely Islamorada and are especially thankful to our wonderful partners and sponsors, the Florida Keys Brewing Company,” says Jose Elias, festivalfounder and executive director of Community Arts and Culture (CAC). “We look forward to honoring the ultimate sacrifices made by the members of the U.S. Armed forces with a day of incredible music in a stunningly beautiful setting.” Elias will also play the tres and guitar with the Spam Allstars.

A Latin Grammy-nominated and nationally and internationally-touring band, the Spam Allstars are one of Miami’s most popular, well-known, longest-running and accomplished bands. Part Afro-Cuban, part hip-hop, part funk, part electronica, they were founded by musician, producer, and musicologist Andrew Yeomanson, AKA DJ Le Spam. The group’s latest recorded effort is called Trans-Oceanic, their sixth full-length released in 2016. Learn more at www.SpamAllstars.com.

Group Barrio Abajo seeks to raise international awareness of the folkloric musical heritage of the Caribbean Colombia by presenting styles such as cumbia, bullerengue, porro, chandé and more than thirty other unparalleled musical rhythms. Globally, their home country is known for cumbia and vallenato, but these are just two parts of their musically diverse heritage. Barrio Abajo performed during the 2018 edition of Afro Roots Fest Islamorada. Learn more about them here: www.facebook.com/GrupoBarrioAbajo.

Kouyate is a native of Senegal and an Afro Roots Fest repeat performer. He is a Kora master and a trained Griot, meaning he captivates audiences with his 20-string, harp-like instrument and maintains a tradition of West African oral history through song. His performances are like beautiful, melodic storytellings. Click https://youtu.be/n0O4eqU-wcA to see him in action at the festival’s 2014 incarnation in Little Haiti. 

Feder fuses his background of jazz and classical music with Flamenco folk stylings and a multi-cultural island vibe. His music has been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered, World Café Live, PBS Art Loft, NPR’s Folk & Acoustic Music, among other outlets. Feder spent six weeks at the top of the Broadjam World Music Chart with his critically acclaimed album “Black Emerald” and has been featured on All My Children(ABC), Art Loft (PBS), the NBC Good Morning show, National Park Service educational videos, and Florida Everglades documentaries.

FABI is the musical project led by multi-instrumentalist Fabi Patino that blends world-beat with rootsy grooves. Venezonix is the brainchild of Elastic Bond’s co-founder and keyboardist Andres Ponce, a mix of Afro-Venezuelan rhythms with electronic sounds. AGPA DJ Selector will entertain the audience in between live sets.

The events are being made possible with the generous support of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys, Keys ICE (Islamorada Community Entertainment), the Morada Way Arts and Cultural District, and the Florida Keys Brewing Company. 

High resolution images and videos are available. For more information, please visit www.AfroRootsFest.com or call 305.916.5521.

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ABOUT COMMUNITY ARTS & CULTURE

Incorporated in September 2002, Community Arts and Culture, Inc. (CAC) is a Miami-based non-profit organization that fosters an appreciation and understanding of a vast assortment of arts and cultures through workshops, lectures and artistic performances in local communities for individuals of all ages and social backgrounds.

In addition to the joint venture with the Little Haiti Community Center called Let the Children Have Music, and the ongoing World Music Tuesdays series at the Wynwood Yard, CAC co-produces the Roots in the Schools program, which brings music to Miami-area schools.

For more information, please visit www.communityartsandculture.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Mut Communications
Michael Mut
786.426.2277
info@mutcomm.com