SAMPLE CARIBBEAN curry chicken. Watch Kenyan acrobats soar through the air. Learn to salsa. Or dance the night away to Arabic pop music.
Today through Saturday, you can take a trip around the world without ever leaving Philadelphia during the fourth annual Global Fusion Festival Week.
More than 20,000 people partied down by the Philadelphia waterfront last year at the Penn's Landing festival that's the grand finale for the event sponsored by the Philadelphia Multicultural Affairs Congress. This year, more than 25,000 are expected to attend Saturday's festival, and MAC couldn't be happier.
"The festival supports our efforts in presenting our great city as a top multicultural destination," MAC executive director Tanya Hall said. "It really follows the diversity of Philly and gives out-of-towners another reason to come and visit in the summer."
There's a theme this year - "Pangea," named for the supercontinent that existed on Earth about 200 million years ago - and a matching slogan: "Philly brings the world together again."
Music is a big uniting factor at the festival.
Tonight, things get started on an R&B note with the O'Jays and Eric Roberson at the Dell Music Center (formerly the Robin Hood Dell East), which is reopening after two years and a $6 million refurbishing. (See accompanying article for festival details.)
On Thursday, Julio Iglesias performs at the Mann Music Center as part of his worldwide "Starry Night" tour. One measure of this Latin artist's huge, global following is that his Web site translates into 22 languages. The Spanish singer has been performing for 42 years and is among the few Hispanic artists with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Also Thursday, the Global Grooves Dance Party summer series at the Kimmel Center gets under way with Sarazino, an Ecuadorean Afro-Latin reggae band that blends elements of Latin pop, reggae, funk, African, French, and Arabic music. They're on their first U.S. tour.
The festivities move from land to sea on Friday for UrbanPhilly Professional Network's 3rd Friday Fusion Afterwork Mixer at the Delaware riverfront Octo Lounge.
"Pangea" culminates in the free Global Fusion Festival Saturday at Penn's Landing. Headliners include R&B quartet En Vogue, R&B singer/songwriter Lyfe Jennings and gospel artists JJ Hairston and Youthful Praise. There will also be dance performances, kids' activities, food and cultural vendors.
"MAC is thrilled that En Vogue is able to perform and headline this year's festival," Hall said. "Their presence puts an exclamation point on one of Philadelphia's premier outdoor concerts and Multicultural Tourism events."
The Global Fusion Festival was introduced as a two-day affair in 2007 to celebrate MAC's 20th anniversary. In 2008, it was reduced to a single day but it packed in two days' worth of nonstop entertainment in a mix of genres.
Plans for next year's event are already under way, Hall added. "Ideally, we would like to see New York down to D.C. markets come to visit for the event. It would bring in tax dollars and be a win-win for everyone."