The District presents the nineteenth annual Ya Maka My Weekend Festival on Friday, August 13 and Saturday, August 14, 2010. The event starts at 5 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday. Ya Maka My Weekend, the original district festival, features two days of reggae, steel drums, and tropical music on two stages. Enjoy authentic Caribbean food and shop the open air marketplace. Play in the sand beach and dig for buried treasure or make your own sand sculpture. Add some palm trees, tiki torches and some cold Red Stripe, and you will feel like you are on a tropical island ... no passport required!
Ya Maka My Weekend is held on the Great River Plaza, 2nd Avenue between 17th & 19th Streets, in downtown Rock Island, IL. Admission is $8 for a one-day pass, $12 for a two-day pass and children 12 and under are free. For more information visit www.ridistrict.com and www.yamakamyweekend.com or call 309.788.6311.
Reggae, Steel Drums, and Tropical Music
Jamaica is in the heart of the Caribbean and is known as a country of relaxation and individuality, and innovative music has always been the norm. Reggae grew out of several musical styles, including traditional Jamaican music, Ska and R&B and is characterized by a heavy back-beat that reflects the beating of the heart.
14 bands and performers will take to the two stages at this year's festival, and will feature a variety of musical styles from around the world.
Friday, August 13
Jumer's Casino & Hotel Stage
5:00 - 6:30: Kingly T
7:15 - 8:45: Mr. Myers
9:30 - 10:15: Now Generation Band
11:00 - 12:30: Pato Banton with the Now Generation Band
Plaza Stage
6:00 - 7:30: Jumbies
8:15 - 9:30: The Ark Band
10:15 - 11:15: Dis N Dat
11:30 - 12:30: Ardie "Cuban Cohiba" Wallace
Saturday, August 14
Jumer's Casino RI Stage
1:15 - 3:45: The Ark Band
4:30 - 7:00: Natty Nation
7:45 - 10:15: Yabba Griffiths
11:00 - 12:30: Indika
Plaza Stage
12:30 - 3:00: Rude Punch
3:45 - 6:15: Kingly T
7:00 - 9:30: Rebel Roots
10:15 - 12:30: Dub Dis
***For complete band information and website links, please visit www.yamakamyweekend.com/bands
DJ Jason De La Cruz - 5pm - 11pm on the Jumer's Stage - between bands.
The Fiyah Band - in Arts Alley from 4pm - 6pm - Saturday only
Zumba Demonstration at 4:45pm on The Plaza - Saturday
Caribbean Food and Culture
Live palm trees, real-life pirates, and a sand-filled beach will help turn Rock Island into an island getaway.
Caribbean cuisine is a fusion of African, French, Indian, Spanish, and other cuisines. A typical dish is "jerk" seasoned meats, which originally referred to the process of rubbing spices and acidic hot peppers onto strips of meat in order to tenderize and preserve them. Rice is a staple food eaten with various sauces and beans.
Four Caribbean-style food vendors will be at the event. Caribbean Kitchen, Hot Spot Island Cuisine, and Jamaican Jerk Hut will return with specialty Caribbean dishes, including jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk wings, Jamaican meat pies, red beans & rice, rasta lemonade, and Jamaican sodas. Many other styles of food will be offered as well, to appeal to those with less adventurous tastes.
In the open air marketplace find all kinds of unique items including tie dye clothing, sarongs and other apparel, cowry shell and hand-crafted jewelry, incense & oils, wood carvings, drums, African wares, and sunglasses. Official Ya Maka My Weekend t-shirts will be sold for $12.
Activities for Children
The sand beach is the place to be between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday. A variety of interactive activities will be available, including limbo, hula hoops, a treasure hunt, buried treasure and beach ball volleyball. Sandcastles can be built at any time throughout the event.
Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. activities for kids will be available on the sand "beach". Children can build sand castles, dig for treasure and participate in games.
Ya Maka My Weekend is sponsored by Jumer's Casino & Hotel, Euclid Beverage, Red Stripe Beer, Valley Construction, Earth Works, Builders Sand & Cement Co., Guitar Center, County Waste, Holiday Inn Rock Island, CBS4, Dispatch - Argus, B100, 97X, Rock 104.9, Star 93.5, dphilms, Quad City International Airport, Rexroat Sound and Getyourgoodnews.com.
The Downtown Rock Island Arts & Entertainment District (The District) is a 501(c)6 not-for-profit organization established in 1992 by local downtown merchants. The District's mission is to establish and manage downtown Rock Island as a creative and innovative experience by focusing on the development of the arts and quality special event management. It features retail shops, excellent restaurants, live entertainment, dinner theater, art galleries and several entertainment venues. Rock Island is located on the Mississippi River, three hours west of Chicago in an area known as the Quad-Cities which straddles the river and the Illinois/Iowa border. It is at the intersection of Interstate highways 74, 88 and 80 and is served by Quad City International Airport in Moline, IL.
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