Garifuna Traditions (2013)

Elements of the Festival

Heritage Focus • Performers • Showcase Winners • Masters of Ceremonies • Honorees • Sponsors • Crafts Market • Folk Marketplace • Schedules • Festival Map • Program Book • Festival Committee • Press

Heritage Focus

Garifuna Traditions
The New Jersey Folk Festival will be celebrating the history, heritage, and folk traditions of the Garifuna people in the United States through music, food, and craft demonstrations on Saturday, April 27, 2013. The Garifuna people are the descendants of Carib, Arawak, and West African people, exiled by the British from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent to Central America. Today, Garifuna people live in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the island of Roatan. In the United States, there are diaspora communities of Garifuna people in New Jersey, among other regions.

The New Jersey Folk Festival will be celebrating the history, heritage, and folk traditions of the Garifuna people in the United States through music, food, and craft demonstrations on Saturday, April 27, 2013. The Garifuna people are the descendants of Carib, Arawak, and West African people, exiled by the British from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent to Central America. Today, Garifuna people live in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the island of Roatan. In the United States, there are diaspora communities of Garifuna people in New Jersey, among other regions.

The history and origin of the Garifuna people create a unique cultural experience. Garifuna people have a strong belief in and reverence for their ancestors, a belief that permeates both their spiritual and secular lives. Through music, dance, and other rituals, Garifuna honor those who came before and the struggles they endured. During a ceremony called dugu, Garifuna families come together for several days to celebrate and pay respect to the spirits of these ancestors. Community is an essential part of Garifuna culture. This holds true in spite of how spread out Garifuna diasporas have become as the Garifuna people migrate from Central America.
In 2001, UNESCO proclaimed Garifuna culture to be a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage in an effort to preserve and revitalize Garifuna culture worldwide. This year, the New Jersey Folk Festival is dedicated to the celebration of Garifuna culture and those who work to preserve and promote Garifuna traditions in the United States.

Performers

JIM ALBERTSON
Jim Albertson, known for both his storytelling and his singing, has been contributing to the New Jersey Folk Festival since its very first year in 1975. He served as emcee for the first 14 years of the festival and has received the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his service to folk music and New Jersey culture. Jim was elected the first president of the New Jersey Folklore Society in 1980 for his expertise in South Jersey traditions. In 1985, he released an album, Down Jersey, on the Smithsonian Institution’s Folkways label. Jim was born in Atlantic City and grew up in the surrounding area.

ROGER DEITZ
The compositions of Roger Deitz, a musician and writer with acerbic wit, have a traditional flavor that fit with other songs of the folk legacy. Playing primarily guitar and banjo, Roger has performed and hosted at various venues and is a regular contributor to such music publications as Billboard, Sing Out! and Acoustic Guitar. He has a new CD, called “Love Songs Now and Then” and new book, “15 Years of Ragtag.” Deitz was the recipient of the 2012 New Jersey Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished contributions to the Folk Music of New Jersey, and for writing a wealth of columns and feature stories appearing in the national folk music press for nearly forty years. Click here for more information.

THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC
Next Generation, young musicians in the Delaware Valley, get together every month during the school year at the Irish Center in Philadelphia to learn a new tune and to have an Irish seisiún (or session) with their peers. They also perform at the annual Irish-American Children’s Festival at the Garden State Discovery Museum and have performed at the Comhaltas Ceoltoíiri Éireann convention and the Philadelphia Ceili Group’s Irish Music and Dance Festival. Many of the musicians at the festival today have competed in the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh Cheoil and gone on to represent the United States in the All-Ireland Competition. Click here to watch them perform at the 2009 NJ Folk Festival.

SPOOK HANDY
Spook Handy, with a reputation for intimate performances and interactive fun, his songs range from the spiritual to the political. Describing Spook’s music is not easy—lyrical wit of John Prine, the humor of Arlo Guthrie, the sincerity of John Denver, the boldness of Bob Dylan and the courage of Pete Seeger emerge as a cohesive sound full of hope and promise. Spook has won several awards for his music and has performed at many prestigious folk festivals across the country. Spook is regarded as one of New Jersey’s torch carriers for the folk music and singer/songwriter traditions.

FRANK WATSON (PIPING TRADITIONS)
Frank Watson, a Highland bagpiper, has competed successfully as both a solo performer and with bands. Frank has piped at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, at Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden in New York City. His piping is currently featured in a television documentary being shown on the Smithsonian Channel, entitled “The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut,” which was nominated for a 2007 Irish Film and Television Academy award in the Best Single Documentary category and a Celtic Media Festival 2007 award for the Best Factual Documentary. “The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut” is now on sale as an iTunes download. Frank piped for the Mahoney Brothers Band on their CD Rock and Roll Rodeo for the song “Half the Man.” He holds a PhD from Drew University and is a student of the late Robert Gilchrist. Frank and his son, Ian, will open the festival this year, as they have for several years, with a march through the festival grounds.

BODOMA GARIFUNA
The Bodoma Garifuna-Cultural Band has been together since the summer of 2002. The Bronx-based Honduran group is comprised of a number of friends who celebrate their ancestral West-African customs through music. Their hybrid sound is the result of a three-drum-ensemble and various other percussion instruments, led by melodic and dynamic vocals. The band’s vocals are sung in a communal call-and-response style, that mimics the sacred invocations of spirits. Click here to watch a performance.

HOGMAW
Hogmaw is a progressive bluegrass band that has performed all over the North East. Formed four years ago, the band consists of Matt Baldwin on guitar and vocals, multi-instrumentalist Colin Reeves on mandolin, banjo, dobro, manjo (combination banjo mandolin), and occasionally guitar, Ryann Lynch on fiddle and foot percussion, and Johnny Calamari on upright bass and harmony vocals. In addition to touring on the jam band and festival circuits, Hogmaw has opened for many national acts, including Grammy award winners The Carolina Chocolate Drops, bluegrass legend Peter Rowan, The Seldom Scene, and Tony Trischka. Hogmaw headlined the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Bucks Co. Bluegrass festival at Snipe’s Farm in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, as well many other bluegrass venues. In 2012, they released their debut album, entitled “Wake,” which has received critical and local acclaim. The band hopes to tour throughout 2013 to promote their album. Click here to watch a performance.

MCDERMOTT’S HANDY
Comprised of Kathy Deangelo and Dennis Gormley, McDermott’s Handy has been playing Irish music since 1977. The band began as a living memorial to Ed Mcdermott, a fiddler from County Leitrim, who inspired young people with his music for over 60 years. After Ed’s death, Kathy organized a tribute for him at the 1977 New Jersey Folk Festival; the musicians called themselves McDermott’s Handy in Mac’s honor. Using strong vocals backed by a variety of instruments, including Celtic harp, fiddle, guitar, flute, and banjo, McDermott’s Handy has traveled new paths in Irish Music. Their debut album “Come Take the Byroads” includes many selections not previously recorded.

ROBBIE O’CONNELL & DAN MILNER
Dan Milner and Robbie O’Connell specialize in Irish and maritime songs. Both from musical families, the duo have been friends for over 30 years, and have been singing together since 2007. Having previously taught together at the Augusta Heritage Festival in West Virginia, they began performing together at the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Fetes des Chants de Marins in Quebec, Canada. In 2009, Robbie joined Dan on his Smithsonian Folkways CD Irish Pirate Ballads, which was twice Indie-nominated. In addition to touring in Europe in 2010, the duo has sung for the Folk Song Society of Greater Boston, and in the Gaelic Roots series at Boston College. They have also headlined the 2011 Mystic Sea Music Festival. Click here to listen to Robbie O’Connell and click here to listen to Dan Milner.

ELEANOR BULLOCK
Eleanor Bullock is the director of GAMAE Arts and Culture. Born in a small coastal village in Belize, Bullock has become a leading figure in the growing renaissance of young Garifuna intellectuals, artists, and scholars who are writing poetry and plays in the Garifuna language. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Visual and Performing Arts Program, Bullock has designed and created performing arts programs based on the Garifuna culture and language. In 2005, Eleanor co-created the Habinaha Garinagu Language & Performing Arts Program, which enables youths to explore and celebrate the language, cultural traditions, and arts of the Garifuna community. In addition to preserving the Garifuna language, Bullock has started several programs to empower Garifuna women and young girls, including the GAMAE Education Divison, and the GAMAE Empowering Women to Lead Change Program.

PATRICE FISHER & CARLOS VALLADARES
Patrice Fisher and Carlos Valladares are a duo that specializes in musical fusion. With Fisher on the harp, and Valladares on percussion, the group likes to mix musical traditions from around the world with Jazz, in order to create something that is entirely original.The group travels around the United States and Latin American 8 to 10 times a year, performing their diverse sound.  Their most recent CD, Sunset, features two versions of the song “Sunset at Waver,” with both versions played in a different style. They hope to take the song to Thailand in the future, and to let the local culture influence the way the song is played. Click here to watch a performance.

JAMES LOVELL
James Lovell is a Garifuna Punta Rock musician from Dangriga Town, Belize. Inspired by the legendary Pen Cayetano, Lovell’s music blends fast rhythms with lyrics that address the social and political issues of the Gariguna, and the people of Belize. After Immigrating to the United States of America in 1990, and serving in the United States Marine Corps, Lovell co-created and co-founded Ilagulei (Roots), a Garifuna Cultural Performing Arts Company. Ilagulei is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and uplifting the Garifuna culture. Lovell released his debut album ‘Cabasan Numari’ (Who’s Going To Be My Wife) in 1995; the album went on to sell fifty thousand copies, and was very well received in the Garifuna community. Currently employed by the New York Board of Education, Lovell continues to preserve and spread the Garifuna culture through his music. Click here to watch his performance at the United Nations.

CAROL LEVIN
Carol Levin has over twenty years experience as a children’s librarian telling stories and sharing songs with young audiences. She specializes in participatory stories and songs for pre-school & elementary-aged children. She also enjoys sharing the stories of remarkable women — including Emily Warren Roebling (the woman who completed the Brooklyn Bridge) and Eliza Pinckney (the original “Indigo Girl” whose agricultural experiments helped finance the American Revolution) with school groups and adult audiences.

BRADY WEGENER
Known as the “Class Clown”, Brady Wegener is a traveling circus performer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A show based on balancing, juggling, and fire, his goal is to spread happiness and joy to the world one city at a time! He is only 18 years old and travels the country doing shows and having fun.

MAKI POLISH DANCE TROUPE
The Polish Dance School “Maki” was founded in September 2004 in Ocean County, New Jersey by Krystyna Olszewski, a professional folk dance choreographer. The cast includes 29 children ranging in age from 6 to 18. The Maki performs an exhilarating and entertaining mix of folk dances that originate from Krakow, Rzeszow and Silesia regions of Poland as well as polonaises. Over the past few years dancers promoted polish culture and traditions throughout the United States. The group entertained at many prestigious gala concerts, community-oriented events, picnics and ceremonies; gave performances in local schools, assisted living communities and public libraries.

Showcase Winners

UPDATED INFORMATION COMING SOON.

Masters of Ceremonies

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Honorees

HONORARY CHAIR
Eleanor Cecilia Castillo Bullock
Eleanor Cecilia Castillo Bullock has been named Honorary Chair of the 2013 Edition of the New Jersey Folk Festival. Born in the small coastal village of Dangriga in Belize, Central America, Eleanor later immigrated to the United States and settled in New Jersey. She became a leading figure in a growing renaissance of young Garifuna intellectuals, artists, and scholars who were writing poetry and plays in her native Garifuna language. She saw an opportunity to create and design performing arts programs based on Garifuna language and culture.

Eleanor was instrumental in the founding of the organization GAMAE (Garifuna Arts, Medicine, Agriculture, and Education). She currently serves as Director of GAMAE Arts and Culture. In that capacity she strives to create and design a full scope of Garifuna multi-generational language immersions programs with an ensemble of some of the best Garifuna music, songs, and poetry for children.

Eleanor founded the Garifuna Performing Arts Program in 2005, with a focus on traditional Garifuna music, song, dance, poetry, and drama. The program quickly became acclaimed at the best Garifuna language immersion projects in the United States. In the summer of 2011, Eleanor brought the program to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the motherland of the Garifuna people. The government there recognized it as a “Language Retrieval Program” and Bullock received a letter of commendation for her work.

With her extensive knowledge of traditional Garifuna culture, she has served as principal artistic adviser to the New Jersey Folk Festival staff in identifying and recruiting Garifuna tradition-bearers to present at the Festival.

GRAND MARSHALL
Dorina Castillo
Dorina Castillo migrated from Dangriga, Belize in the early 70s. She attended Sacred Heart Primary School and Austin High School in, Dangriga, Belize, Central America. In 1978 she came to join her family in New York City.
She attended New York City Community College, Brooklyn now known as New York Technical College where she earned her Associate Degree in Secretarial Science. She continued her education at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and earned her Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Government and Public Administration with a minor in Personnel Administration, in May, 1984.

Dorina has been employed by the City of New York for the past 32 years. She started as an Executive Secretary to various Assistant Commissioners, then moved to supervising several units within agencies, and currently is a Principal Administrative Associate Level II, the highest level in that title.

Dorina has also held several offices within various Garifuna organizations. These include Illagilei Garifuna Performing Arts Company, President; United Garifuna Association, Secretary/Public Relations Officer; Hamalali Garifuna Tidan Ligilisi Katolika, Secretary; and Garifuna Mass Committee, Vice President.

Dorina participates in several Garifuna Mass and sings in the choir. She gives God as well as the spirit of the ancestors the glory for the blessings they bestowed upon her giving her the strength and courage to work with her Garifuna people in every way possible. Dorina can be seen at several Garifuna events. The excitement in her face at these events tells how much the culture means to her.

Dorina trained children to sing gospel music in preparation for upcoming Garifuna mass. She assisted the Honduras against Aids in mass. She was selected as a judge at their annual selection of their Queen. This meant that youths would be vying for the title of Ms. Garifuna which they would earn by demonstrating their knowledge of the Garifuna culture through performances, drama, questions and answers in Garifuna, and dancing the various Garifuna dances to the beat of the Garifuna drums. Dorina also trained youths in the organization Prometra Garifuna Society. This was done as recent as February 2013.

Reverend George Ramon Castillo
The New Jersey Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to one individual each year who demonstrates exceptional commitment and service to humanity. The Reverend George Ramon Castillo will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the New Jersey Folk Festival on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Born in the British Honduras, now Belize, George immigrated to the United States at an early age. Later, he attended the Bangor Theological Seminary located in Bangor, Maine. It is an ecumenical seminary, founded in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ. After graduation, he served churches in Maine, Michigan, and Ohio. Eventually, he accepted a position as a Prison Chaplain with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In his prison work, Chaplain Castillo had to deal with some prisoners whose legitimate personal problems were all but insurmountable. He is perhaps best known for his autobiography, My Life between the Cross the Bars, a book of major significance regarding life in Federal prisons. For over 20 years Chaplain Castillo’s life was involved with those considered “the least of these my brethren” — the incarcerated, their families, and the staff responsible for the care and keeping of federal prisoners. This book provides excellent insights for prison employees. The general reader also gains a greater understanding of what it is like for the second victims of crime – the families. No other federal prison Chaplain has written about the day-to-day experiences of the religious community in prison. This topic is timely with our burgeoning prison population and as the federal government now has 91 prisons with more than 20 on the drawing board. In recognition of his service, the New Jersey Folk Festival is proud to present Chaplain Castillo with its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2013.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Reverend George Ramon Castillo
The New Jersey Folk Festival Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to one individual each year who demonstrates exceptional commitment and service to humanity. The Reverend George Ramon Castillo will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the New Jersey Folk Festival on Saturday, April 27, 2013. Born in the British Honduras, now Belize, George immigrated to the United States at an early age. Later, he attended the Bangor Theological Seminary located in Bangor, Maine. It is an ecumenical seminary, founded in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ. After graduation, he served churches in Maine, Michigan, and Ohio. Eventually, he accepted a position as a Prison Chaplain with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In his prison work, Chaplain Castillo had to deal with some prisoners whose legitimate personal problems were all but insurmountable. He is perhaps best known for his autobiography, My Life between the Cross the Bars, a book of major significance regarding life in Federal prisons. For over 20 years Chaplain Castillo’s life was involved with those considered “the least of these my brethren” — the incarcerated, their families, and the staff responsible for the care and keeping of federal prisoners. This book provides excellent insights for prison employees. The general reader also gains a greater understanding of what it is like for the second victims of crime – the families. No other federal prison Chaplain has written about the day-to-day experiences of the religious community in prison. This topic is timely with our burgeoning prison population and as the federal government now has 91 prisons with more than 20 on the drawing board. In recognition of his service, the New Jersey Folk Festival is proud to present Chaplain Castillo with its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2013.

Sponsors

PRESENTING SPONSOR
Department of American Studies at Rutgers University

MAJOR SPONSORS
Assistant VP for Academic Engagement and Programming
BP Fabric of America Fund
City of New Brunswick Department of Parks
The Committee to Advance our Common Purposes
Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission
Middlesex County Improvement Authority
The Tulip Foundation

FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL

Crafts Market

UPDATED INFORMATION COMING SOON.

Folk Marketplace

UPDATED INFORMATION COMING SOON.

Schedules

UPDATED INFORMATION COMING SOON.

Festival Map

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Program Book

UPDATED INFORMATION COMING SOON.

Festival Committee

• Executive Director: Angus Kress Gillespie
• Assistant Director: Erin Clarke
• Music Director: Kathy DeAngelo
• Heritage Director: Jaclyn Stewart Wood
• Administrative Assistant: Helene Grynberg
• Jamming Director: Dan O’Dea
• Festival Manager: Gabrielle Rossi
• Finance Coordinator: Jeff Crane
• Marketing & Merchandising Coordinator: Christine Ray
• Food Vendor Coordinator: Kate Dobromilsky
• Crafts Coordinator: Leena Meal
• Skylands Stage Coordinator: James Malchow
• Pinelands Stage Coordinator: Patrick Gora
• Shore Stage Coordinator: Hannah Peterson
• Children’s Activities Area: Gina Sesta
• Heritage Area Coordinator: Kristen Herrick
• Media Coordinator: Lisabeth Matyash
• Graphics Coordinator: Khermesh Badushov
• Alumni/Volunteer Coordinator: Alicja Cygan
• Program Book Coordinator: Kenny Lavin

PRESS

• February 15: Media Coordinator Lisabeth Matyash and Pinelands Coordinator Pat Gora gave an interview to East Brunswick Television (EBTV). Click here to watch the interview.
• February 22: Food Coordinator Kate Dobromilsky gave an interview in Spotswood to SPSN.
• March 29: Festival Manager Gabrielle Rossi and Media Coordinator Lisabeth Matyash sat down with WCTC’s Bert Baron on “New Jersey TODAY.” Click here to listen to them on WCTC’s podcast.
• April 2: Dr. Angus Gillespie and Skylands Stage Coordinator James Malchow gave an interview to Lew Goldstein on his program “Focus On” in Princeton, NJ.
• April 19: Children Area’s Coordinator Gina Sesta and Crafts Coordinator Leena Meola talked with WRSU’s Geoff Pape on “Overnight Sensations.”
• April 20: Pinelands Stage Coordinator Patrick Gora and Marketing/Merchandising Coordinator Christine Ray sat down with WRSU’s Herb Sudzin on “Sudzin Country: Traditional Country.”
• April 21: Program Book Coordinator Kenny Lavin and Crafts Coordinator Leena Meola talked with WRSU’s Mark Corso on “Homemade Music: Acoustic and Folk.”
• April 21: Shore Stage Coordinator Hannah Peterson and Volunteer/Alumni Coordinator Alicja Cygan sat down with WPRB’s John Weingart “Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio.”
• April 22: Festival Manager Gabrielle Rossi was on Rutgers University Television’s (RUTV) “Wake-Up Rutgers.” Click here to watch the interview.
• April 23: Our very own Dr. Angus Gillespie talked with WCTC Jack Ellery.
• April 25: Media Coordinator Lisabeth Matyash and Finance Coordinator Jeff Crane sat down with WRSU’s Richard Skelly on “Low-Budget Blues.”