Saturday, August 10, 4 p.m.
District of Rock Island IL
In 1992, the District of Rock Island hosted its very first outdoor festival with the debut of its Caribbean-themed celebration Ya Maka My Weekend. Twenty-seven years later, the District's longest-running annual tradition will continue with 2019's Daiquiri Factory-sponsored Ya Maka My Weekend on August 10, an event boasting a marketplace, arts and crafts vendors, ethnic food of all flavors, and concert sets by six sizzling musical acts.
In Ya Maka My Weekend's open-air marketplace, District visitors can find unique items including tie-dyed clothing, sarongs, cowry shell and hand-crafted jewelry, incense and oils, glow necklaces, Caribbean flags, wood carvings, drums, African wares, and sunglasses. Official Ya Maka My Weekend T-shirts and the specially blended “Yamaican” Jerk Seasoning will also be sold, with the festival's Caribbean food options combining the tastes of African, French, Indian, and Spanish cuisines. Rock Island's District will also house the annual “Ya Maka Beach,” in which guests can enjoy cold refreshments while building sand castles in a makeshift beachfront complete with palm trees.
Meanwhile, a sextet of gifted and exciting soloists and bands will fill the District with the sounds of the Caribbean. With popular singer/songwriter Doug Brundies performing in the festival's Coconut Cove at 5:45 and 9:15 p.m., the Indianapolis-based roots rockers and reggae artists of Kingly T will unveil their Jamaican-conscious sound on the Great River Plaza Stage, at 4:15 p.m., the band's 2019 album Working Woman hitting the top 10 on BMS Radio Chicago's “Hits We Love” chart. Playing a 5 p.m. Ya Maka My Weekend set, Indika is the six-time winner of the Martin International Music Awards' “Best Reggae Band” citation, with its Chicago-based musicians boasting nearly 150 years of professional reggae, calypso, and soca performance between them.
At 7:30 p.m., Ya Maka My Weekend attendees will enjoy the Caribbean stylings of Midwestern Iowa's Jumbies, with band members Stan Dahl, Creighton Gaynor, Tyler Coleman, Corbin Brooks, and Rob Abrams delivering a high-energy performance of funk and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Indika returns to the Great River Plaza Stage at 9:15 p.m., this time in the company of Karl “Kofi” James, one of the founding members of the reggae band Roots Stem & Branches that released 10 albums between 1983 and 2000. And wrapping up the 2019 Ya Maka My Weekend festivities is an 11p.m. set with the nationally touring talents of Lazo & Exodus, with bandleader Lazo a former lead vocalist for Bob Marley's band The Wailers, and his ensemble scheduled to perform a spectacular tribute to Marley as the festival's climactic act.
Admission to the District of Rock Island's August 10 Ya Maka My Weekend festival is $10 ($5 after 10:30 p.m.), the gates open at 4 p.m., and more information is available by visiting DaiquiriFactory.com.
