The cultures of several Caribbean islands will be on display in New York this month. The inaugrual Bankra Caribbean Folk Festival will be staged on June 7 at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. The festival forms part of the annual celebration of Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Week in New York, which brings together a group of 32 regional destinations for seven days of activities to market and promote the region. 
Jamaican Andrew Clarke is the brainchild behind the festival, which will include live performances by Braata Folk Singers from Jamaica, Something Positive Inc., Boodoosingh Tassa Group and Adlib Steel Orchestra from Trinidad and Tobago, La Troupe Zetwal from Haiti, Quake USA from Grenada and Impressions Dance Theatre from Guyana.
‘ALL OUT’
“June is Caribbean Month in New York, and we wanted to go all out this year to retain and celebrate many of the cultural elements that make the Caribbean region so vibrant,” Clarke said in a recent press release to promote the event. “It is with this spirit in mind that we created the Bankra Caribbean Folk Festival.” The Bankra festival has been designed for the family. There will also be a village for children with JJ The Clown, Honeybee Face & Body Art and face painting, plus folk games and dances, drumming sessions, basket weaving displays and a magician.
