By Aria Brent, AFRO Employees Author, abrent@afro.com
The Prince George’s Cultural Artwork Basis (PGCAF) held the thirteenth annual Lake Arbor Jazz Competition from July 12-16. The multi-day sequence of occasions included festivities at a number of venues and a variety of actions for this 12 months’s attendees.
The pageant was full of rather more than nice jazz music. The five-day occasion kicked off with a VIP unplugged kickoff reception, held at WellSpring Manor and Spa. The itinerary main as much as the primary live performance included occasions similar to movie star golf outings, wine excursions, meet and greets and an all white affair.
“The artist lineup was glorious,” stated Kevin Alexander, PGCAF board president. “The spotlight can be the nationwide artists. [We had] Najee on Thursday, with Frank McComb. Items of a Dream and Mike Phillips carried out on Friday. And WAR! was our headliner on Saturday, however we had a number of nationwide acts.”
The five-day music occasion was based by Alexander in 2009 and was initially a free, one-day occasion within the Lake Arbor space. Over time, the pageant has grown to attract an viewers of over 10,000 folks.
The primary live performance was held on July 15 on the Lake Arbor Group Middle and over 3,000 folks attended the reside music expertise. Friends had been capable of benefit from the sounds of artists like Jazmin Ghent, Rebecca Jade, Kim Scott, The BlackByrds, Nicholas Cole and Marcus Anderson. Legendary, soul-funk band WAR! headlined this 12 months’s live performance.
“Having been raised in DC within the 60’s and 70’s singing together with The Blackbryds and WAR! was an absolute thrill,” commented one attendee, Renaire Rivers.
The pageant is a fundraiser placed on by PGCAF and proceeds from the pageant go to the PGCAF Scholarship Fund which gives funding to college-bound college students attending a 4 12 months school or college.
Sponsors similar to Outback Steakhouse and Xfinity have labored with the group earlier than and returned to assist make this 12 months’s pageant a hit together with some new sponsors, together with George Mason Mortgage and The AFRO.
Quite a lot of venues within the Lake Arbor space had been used to host the sequence of occasions that befell, together with the MGM Nationwide Harbor Lodge and On line casino, Oak Creek Golf Course, Two Lions Vineyard and Robin Hill Farms Vineyard.
“We unfold all through Prince George’s County, with venues similar to Wellspring Manor and Spa, the Lake Arbor Group Middle and the performing arts heart at Prince George’s Group Faculty,” stated Alexander. “We gave our friends a mixture of indoor and out of doors pageant actions all through your complete weekend.”
Followers can anticipate the line-up of occasions and headliners for the 2024 Lake Arbor Jazz Competition to be introduced in November of this 12 months.
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