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FAMILIES INVITED TO CELEBRATE MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND ENJOYING FREE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMERS AT THE PATHMARK MULTICULTURAL ARTS FESTIVAL AT JERSEY GARDENS

The Pathmark Multicultural Arts Festival, a big, movable, happy annual international spectacular, this year opens at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey over Mother’s Day Weekend, a great time for families to celebrate together. The free program ranges from Latin dance to gospel music, R & B, Caribbean and African dancing and stilt walking. Adding to the fun are food and product samples and prizes for the audience. It all takes place in center court on the mall’s lower level, Saturday, May 12, Noon to 5:00, Sunday, May 13, Noon to 4:00.

New to the Festival is singer Keith Bailey performing top selections from his new CD, Highest Praise. A Roselle, New Jersey native, Mr. Bailey has been a lead singer since he was 16, developing a unique sound based on a love of jazz, rhythm and blues, contemporary and gospel music. Add the musical depth of experience as bandleader, songwriter, composer, and musical arranger, and Mr. Bailey truly inspires the audience, especially when performing deeply moving songs like “Even Now.”

Also performing is First Class, a repertory group that features top Philadelphia singing talents such as Diane Brown and Marcus Council. Transporting parents and kids alike to the days of early Motown, they perform the magic melodies of Sam Cook and Marvin Gaye.

Anthony Rodriguez, dancer, singer, choreographer, arranger and composer, who has soloed on tour with Madonna, worked with Cyndi Lauper, Marc Anthony and Tito Puente, performs with his dance company, La Santa Luz. Their own high-energy style fuses Latin, flamenco, African, ballet, modern, jazz and urban, with embellishments from sign language.

The Seventh Principle ensemble performs the drumbeats, calls and captivating movements created over centuries in Africa and the Caribbean. Festival audiences love the flamboyant costumes, authentic instruments and inspiring, athletic leaps and dances members perform. This year, there is the added excitement of stilt-dancing, something few audience members are likely to try.

Piel Canela Dance & Music School is dedicated to bringing the world of salsa, mambo and the other faces of Latin dance to the American public. The Piel Canela Dance Company draws on some of the professionals who continue their studies at Piel Canela and the instructors who make the school a center for Latin dance and culture in Manhattan.

The K Company, from the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, adds its own colorful Latin flavor to the Festival. The dancers’ intrically choreographed salsa, merengue, mambo-style and jazz routines have already been performed this year for New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks fans, with appearances at Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium and the Waldorf Astoria soon to come. The dancers, all teens, are selected annually from auditions of the more than 12,000 students who take part in this outstanding Bronx after-school program.

The Multicultural Arts Festival is one of several events sponsored throughout the year by Pathmark as a way to say “thank you” to the communities that shop in its supermarkets. Among other companies joining as Festival sponsors is AmeriChoice, which will be on site at Jersey Gardens with health screenings and information on health and medical insurance.

For more about the Pathmark Festival and any of the venues, call toll-free 866-894-1812 or visit Pathmark.com.