By Erik Kvarnberg
Something new is stirring at the corner of J Street and Lake Avenue in Lake Worth Beach.
The Mango Music and Art Festival is the uniquely South Floridian result of a meeting of the minds: Pomona restaurant co-owner Alexandra Dupuis, PureHoney magazine publisher Steev Rullman, and record label Tiki Tumbao maverick Travis Acker.
From 1 pm to midnight on Saturday, September 5, these three bring the fruits of their labor to downtown Lake Worth Beach, turning the J Street and Lake Avenue corridor into a place for the community to enjoy local art, street vendors, mango-inspired food and cocktails, live music, and DJs. The festival is free to attend for all ages.
Dupuis, the festival director and co-owner of Pomona Kitchen, originally wanted to reconnect locals to businesses run by other locals. “The festival’s identity truly solidified once we began booking the headlining acts,” said Dupuis. All organizers felt that soul-jazz groups like The Glades and Latin alternative group Electric Piquette both represent and unify the South Florida community.
PureHoney took the lead in selecting the acts in collaboration with Tiki Tumbao, a Miami-based record label specializing in the Latin jazz/funk genre. The headlining acts include names such as Cumbiamba, Tony and the Kings, Jeremy’s Way and the Soul Vaccinators.
Inspired by Peruvian, Mexican, and Colombian cumbia from the 1960s and 1970s, Cumbiamba revisits well-known songs with original music. Playing a blend of covers and original songs, the band headlines the festival at the J Street Stage from 10-11:30 pm.
“Mango Festival is a great opportunity to bring an emerging scene of really talented South Florida musicians, who are looking to kind of root us back in our past a little bit,” Acker said. “But in a way that just really still feels current and revitalizing something that I really believe has been in all of us.”
As the owner of a record label that focuses on recapturing the magic of ’70s funk, jazz, and Latin music, this festival sees the coming together of many worlds, he said.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen all these groups who have been doing this for over 20 years in South Florida in different pockets, finally coming together on one lineup, really presenting this beautiful fusion thing, and it’s just so South Florida,” Acker said.
Tiki Tumbao offers two of the bands on their label. The Glades features top jazz musicians stretching their legs with funky soul music, while Tony and the Kings traveled from funk and soul music to play Latin boogaloo, a blend of Afro-Cuban rhythm and soul, R&B, and rock and roll.
Dupuis also rallied the support of Blood Cancer United, Path to College, For the Children Inc., and The Guatemalan-Maya Center, a nonprofit organization providing social services to immigrants from the Central American nation. Each of these charity partners help make the Mango Music and Art Festival a true celebration of the community.
“I would say it’s the first time where you can really experience a lot of the different things and people who make our universe real, all in one place, putting out the best representation of what we do,” Acker said.
Pomona Kitchen and other Lake Worth Beach businesses including Propaganda, Rudy’s at Bamboo and Rudy’s Pub, are hosting unique atmospheres to accompany the festival. The vendor market opens at 1 p.m., with live music, vinyl DJs and special programming continuing throughout the afternoon and evening. The celebration continues until midnight.
More information can be found at www.pomonakitchen.com/mango-festival. Attendees are encouraged to donate to local charities.