NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — If you like reggae, soca, calypso or all three genres, you'll find something to groove to at the city's second annual Caribbean Festival.

The free, all-ages party is set to run from noon to 6 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 26, at Boyd Park, off Route 18 in New Brunswick. Caribbean cuisine, music and dance performances will take place alongside kid-friendly activities, according to an announcement from the organizers, the New Brunswick Cultural Center, Arts New Brunswick and Johnson & Johnson.

This festival is the latest in the summer concert series called Hub City Sounds.

Sign Up for New Brunswick Newsletter Our newsletter delivers the local news that you can trust. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. You have successfully signed up for the TAPinto New Brunswick Newsletter.

“I have been fortunate enough to witness and help to facilitate the Live Music Movement in New Brunswick for over three decades and am so excited to be a part of the development and evolution of this Hub City Sounds Caribbean Festival,” Carlyle “Ras Ujimma” Parris, one of the people behind the event, said in a statement. “I strongly believe that through our strong efforts of outreach and communication that this event will flourish into one of the best festivals in the tri-state region.”

The lineup of artists includes ARITA, Jazmine Stewart, Ramya, the Universal African Drum and Dance Ensemble, the Black Circle Symphony featuring Kendra Granville, Gary Nesta Pine, Socatworkoutfitness, Ras Osagyefo, Susan Kennedy, Maurice Archibald, Diamond Anderson, Haitian All-Stars and Danzon.

Kids will be pleased to find a moon castle, face painters, canvas painting and more, according to the release.

What's more, the organizers said, “delectable delights” will be on sale for folks with rumbling bellies.

Attendees may bring blankets or chairs.





But it's likely they won't need them. The music, after all, is designed to get people on their feet. And it's already got people talking.

“We are excited to be a part of the growth of this festival,” Frederick A. Morton Jr., founder and head of Tempo Networks, the event's media partner, said in a statement, “which is another awesome platform for connecting and uniting the Caribbean diaspora around our extraordinary culture ...”

Indeed, the festival is one of many designed to represent and appeal to New Brunswick's diverse population, the organizers said.

Morton went on to praise the festival's music and cuisine—along with New Brunswick, which he said is “one of the most beautiful” cities in the state.

Middlesex County's cultural and arts trust fund helped make the festival possible through a grant, according to the announcement.