Phil Watkis (left) and Dez-I

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

A Caribbean component has been added to this year's Sweet Auburn Spring Festival in Atlanta, USA, that started on Friday and finishes today.

For the first time the three-day festival which was started 25 years ago will have a Caribbean Village that was created by Danny Sterling, CEO and founder of Atlanta-based New Creation Records. Artistes from the record label who will be featured at the festival are Dez-I, Phil Watkis and Josie Mel from Jamaica, as well as Joseph Quote, Charmaine DaCosta (formerly of Whorl A Girl), Papa Lova, Benz Man, Joanna Marie Vital and Rochelle from the United States.

"Given the growing popularity of reggae music in the region, and with a growing number of Caribbean immigrants moving to the Atlanta region, the time is right now to diversify the offerings of the Sweet Auburn Spring Festival," Danny Sterling said in a press release.

"It's going to be a very exciting weekend in Atlanta. This year there is a Caribbean presence by New Creation Records. They are bringing many artistes from Jamaica. That will draw a lot of attention to Jamaica and reggae," Dave Rodney, media consultant for the festival, told The Sunday Gleaner.

In addition to the Jamaican artistes at the event, Rodney says the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) will be participating in the festival.

He says it will also be a good opportunity for Jamaican companies to showcase their products. Western Union, GraceKennedy, Air Jamaica, the JTB and Blue Mountain Coffee are some of the companies that he believes are likely to be benefit from the festival.

"Beyond the fun, frolic and good time, the festival is a major marketing machinery for Caribbean goods and services," said Rodney.

He added: "For Caribbean companies doing business in the area it (the festival) will bring new market. It's a new and exciting market segment."

Rodney said the festival is the perfect market for Jamaican companies to sell their products because of the large number of Jamaican immigrants living in Atlanta who have moved there from the Tri-State area, which includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. He noted that many of these persons migrated to Atlanta in the last 10 years because the state has more affordable housing.

Weekend centrepiece

Despite other events taking place on the weekend, Rodney says the festival will still have a large crowd because it had as much as 500,000 attendees last year.

"Sweet Auburn Spring Festival is the centrepiece for the weekend. It has been going on for many years. It is the largest outdoor festival in the south-eastern United States. The only thing bigger is possibly the Labour Day Parade in Brooklyn in September," said Rodney.

The festival in Atlanta is the largest multi-cultural offering of music, art and film, and it takes place in the historic Sweet Auburn/ Martin Luther King National Park District in downtown Atlanta.

It will have 10 stages with continuous entertainment, alongside pavilions that will put focus on culture, health, sports, business and technology, dream homes, fashion, cars and bikes, a film festival, a celebration of books and international cuisine. There is also a very popular Kids Fun Zone.