Gateway Food and Music Festival Set for Saturday

Don’t miss the first this Saturday, Sept. 24, at Lillian Webb Park. Admission is free and festivities will run all day from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.

The idea is to take a trip around the globe. There'll be food, music and dance groups representing the melting pot of cultures that live in Gwinnett Village, the area surrounding Jimmy Carter Boulevard.

Asia, South America and North America will all be highlighted.

“Well, you look at Asia as quite big. You have Indian, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese,” said Keith Shewbert, co-chair of the festival. “And in Gwinnett there’s a very large Indian community, Korean, South Korean community, Vietnamese. So it will all be very well-represented. And then...I know there’ll be Mexican and Caribbean.”

Shewbert said The Gwinnett Village Community Alliance and the Gwinnett Village CID, sister non-profits that work in tandem to revitalize and strengthen the area, wanted to create a signature event that would capture the essence of what the Gwinnett Village area is and tell that story to the rest of Atlanta.

“Hopefully we’ll do this every year and it’ll get bigger and such and become a regular thing like Jazz Fest,” said Shewbert.

A battle of the bands will take place on the main stage from 11 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. “The headliners an Afro-Cuban band who played at Kazim Reed’s inauguration,” explained Shewbert. “We’ve got a Chinese string orchestra, lots of different things like that.”

The Jason Conelley Band, The Kevin Spears Band, Alicia Y Rumba and Vanessa Deliz will all be performing.

“Vanessa, she’s a tremendous young singer. Her mother’s Honduran, her father’s Puerto Rican. She opened for Bryan Adams at one of the amphitheaters earlier this year,” stated Shewbert.

There will be a broad mix of multicultural dance groups performing on the community stage throughout the day. At the top of the hill there'll be a children’s area and the Gwinnett Braves will also have a space.

Next year, they’re looking to do a kid’s music area with instruments from around the world that kids can learn about and play. They’ll also introduce more non-food vendors next year, primarily clothing and jewelry.

“This year it really is food and music," said Shewbert. "We said, ‘Let’s concentrate on doing something and doing it well. And moving forward we can do some other things but let’s stay focused,’”

Some of the food vendors expected to be there are: , Hong Bakery, Los Recuerdos Colombian Restaurant, My Cupcake, TEX’s Tacos, Machu Pichu Restaurant, Loving Hut, King of Pops, Imane Moroccan Restaurant and Laotian Community Food, just to name a few.

As for adults, wine and beer will be available and downtown Norcross is in good proximity for an after-party.

There’s plenty of parking. “Just come on out. The city is used to running large festivals,” said Shewbert. “It’s something they do on a continuous basis so they’re good at it.”

Organizers chose this as their signature event because they see the area as a gateway to culture for metro Atlanta. It's one of the most international communities of the city.

Letycia Pastrana, executive director of the , said they hope to provide people with a truly global experience that will enrich their views of other cultures.

“I’m just really excited to see a bunch of different people coming together to enjoy it,” said Shewbert. “That’s what I’m looking forward to, just the mixing part of it.”