By The TimesLedger
Native Far Rockaway resident Congressman Gregory W. Meeks ushered in the fourth annual Historical Rockaway Music Fest last Sunday on the Boardwalk at Beach 10th to 15th Streets to an enthusiastic crowd of residents and visitors.
“You know me from my days going to school here,” Meeks said, addressing the crowd from the band shell. “Now that I’m representing this diverse community in Washington, I’m making its revitalization a priority.”
Attendance has grown steadily in the festival’s yearly expansion, offering a dynamic array of international talent. This year’s headliner was The Mighty Sparrow (“Hot Hot Hot”), known to Caribbean natives and music aficionados as the King of Calypso. The entertainment bill was filled out with an ethnic and culturally diverse mix of talent that included the E & J Kings and Queens dancers, who dazzled onlookers with their Mardi Gras-style spectacle of gargantuan kaleidoscopic butterfly costumes.
The festival was coordinated through the cooperation of the Rockaway Promoters, Inc., and the Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corporation (RDRC), Executive Director Curtis Archer, who acted as fiscal conduit. The event was backed by local elected officials including the late New York State Assembly Member Pauline Rhodd-Cummings, who secured funding for this year’s festival, and former New York City Council Member Juanita Watkins.
Meeks emphasized that the event is a great way to bring into focus the unappreciated beauty of the Rockaway Peninsula, which he said has been underserved by cultural activity until the advent of this event.
“People are attracted to a musical festival of this sort because of its eclectic cultural offerings in music and the exotic food provided by businesses free of charge,” he said.
Last year’s event brought 1,300 participants and it was expected that this year’s festival would attract bigger numbers.
The event attracts people not only from the peninsula but from all across Queens and Long Island. The festival draws attendance through its rich cultural musical talents that showcase known and unknown acts. This year a boy of about six thrilled the crowd with his dramatic singing ability.
“Next year, I would like to add a great R & B act like the Ojays,” Norman Harry said, “to round out the mix.”
“I’m proud to hold entertainment festivals of this magnitude to highlight and expose the multi-ethnicity that Far Rockaway represents,” Meeks said. “This is the emblem of New York City’s true mosaic population.”
