Ya Maka My Weekend in downtown Rock Island -- August 14.
Saturday, August 14, 4 p.m. gates
Downtown Rock Island IL
In 1992, downtown Rock Island hosted its very first outdoor festival with the debut of its Caribbean-themed celebration Ya Maka My Weekend. Twenty-nine years later, after an unanticipated summer off, the District's longest-running annual tradition will continue with the 2021 Ya Maka My Weekend on August 14, an eagerly awaited event boasting a marketplace, arts and crafts vendors, ethnic food of all flavors, and concert sets by five sizzling musical acts hosted by Assane Dia.
In Ya Maka My Weekend's open-air marketplace, 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. The festival's Caribbean food options will yet again combine the tastes of African, French, Indian, and Spanish cuisines, with additional amenities including live music by Coconut Cove taking place inside the Caribbean Food Court, as well as a 200-foot zipline that flies through the concrete jungle between 5 and 9 p.m.
Among those performing outdoor concert sets at Ya Maka My Weekend, festival guests will be able to 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. Additional headliners Baby J & Golden Street Reggae Band is made up of veteran Chicago-area musicians who have been honored with more than 20 Chicago-music awards between them. Playing bass is Vince Huckaby, the founder of Chicago's original reggae band Gyspi Fari; on guitar and vocals is Stan Champion, founder of the award-winning Roots Rock Society; playing keyboard is Chicago's own Ray Charles Bobby Lovell; and three-time Best Vocalist winner Bobby J delivers lead vocals.
Also featured on the musical lineup are Drea & Zion Iyahbinghi, who hail from the Caribbean's twin islands of Trinidad & Tobago. Hailing from Detroit, Universal Xpression boasts the talents and creativity of prolific songwriter, arranger, and energetic showman Richard "Richie B" Parris on keyboards, lead, and background vocals; Noel Parris on drums; the Genius Oliver (Pluto) Mensah on bass and lead vocals; and Avi Kayne on rhythm strums and leads. And returning Ya Maka My Weekend favorites Indika are six-time winners of the Martin International Music Awards' “Best Reggae Band” citation, with the Chicago-based musicians boasting nearly 150 collective years of professional reggae, calypso, and soca performance.
Admission to the August 14 Ya Maka My Weekend festival is $10 (ages 12 and under free), the gates open at 4 p.m., and more information is available by visiting DowntownRockIsland.org.
