By Aria Brent,
AFRO Staff Writer,
abrent@afro.com
The 13th annual Lake Arbor Jazz Festival is taking place July 12-16 in Prince George’s County, Md. This year’s festival is full of fun events to accompany the lineup of artists and musicians who will be taking the stage.
The festival is the cornerstone fundraising event of The Prince George’s Cultural Arts Foundation (PGCAF). The volunteer-led, mission driven, non-profit organization was created exclusively to promote educational, cultural, recreational and other charitable activities in PG County and the surrounding areas. Proceeds from the go to the PGCAF Scholarship Fund which provides funding to college-bound students attending a four year college or university.
The five-day music event was founded by PGCAF board president, Kevin C. Alexander in 2009 and was initially a free, one-day event in the Lake Arbor area but has since grown to draw an audience of over 10,000 people.
In May of this year Alexander was featured on an episode of the AFRO’s weekly, digital podcast “The Chicken Boxx” to discuss all things jazz and what attendees can anticipate from the festival.
“We’re starting off on [a]Wednesday, where we have a VIP reception at Wellspring Manor and Spa. We’ll feature some of the artists that will come here for the festival at the kick-off VIP reception. Thursday we have a celebrity golf outing and then in the evening we have a pre-festival concert,” Alexander said, speaking of events lined up for July 12 and July 13.
Everyday leading up to and following the day of the concert has something for guests to enjoy. Events such as the Legacy Trail wine tour, a meet and greet brunch with grammy nominated saxophonist Marcus Anderson, a summer white affair and so much more.
Although the weekend will be full of music and a variety of performances are scheduled to happen, the actual concert portion of the festival is happening July 15, at the Lake Arbor Community Center. Gates open at noon and performances start at 1:30 p.m. This year’s lineup includes artists such as War, Frank McComb, Eric Roberson and Pieces of a Dream.
Tickets for all events have been on sale since Feb.1 and can be purchased online at lakearborjazz.com
