Get ready for Goombay Gospel!

Denise McLeod with Rose Diversity Group joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about an upcoming festival.

The second annual Goombay Gospel will be held on October 13 at Bayview Park.

McLeod said, “We invite our families to come out with their kids on this day, October the 13th, and school is closed on the 14th, so it’s a good day to come out with the kids. We’ll be at Bayview Park, right there on Truman Avenue, next to the HoB Middle School. It is a day where we will be have a lot of special performances. We have a nice DJ. We’ll have a live reggae at the end of the evening, the Junkanoos, I hope everyone’s familiar. They also will be having a limbo little dance off. So hey, start doing your stretch exercises right now, so your body can get limber. You can come on out and do the limbo with us. Our favorite people that will be singing gospel songs, such as Commissioner Clayton Lopez and his sister, Wilhelmina, what a treat. What a treat. What a treat. If you never heard them sing before, you want to be there to hear them. The Key West Conchettes will be there kicking up their heels. And we’ll have the music department from the Frederick Douglass school will be there singing. We’ll have Carnetta and her dancers. They’ll be with us as well. And we’ll have a poet coming down from Miami. I like to find ways to connect, to be a blessing in our community. We’ll have Saint James Missionary Baptist choir led by Bishop Anderson, and they can blow, what a great choir that is. We’re looking forward to hearing them. We have so many good things that will be happening on this second annual Goombay Gospel family friendly extravaganza.”

There will also be tons of raffles.

McLeod said, “We are giving a giving away a one year membership to a community garden. We have a raffle basket that we fill with tea. We have artwork that has been donated into a raffle basket. We’re getting two free bikes. We have a prayer basket. The Peer House up on Front Street has donated a 50 minute spa certificate. We have some great things. We have Aetna coming down from Miami, and they’ll be giving away back to school supplies. The Department of Health will be giving away all kinds of incentives to remind us to stay healthy. We have some good food.”

All of this will happen from 4 to 8 p.m.

McLeod said, “It is absolutely free. We just ask that you bring your open hearts, your smiles, and bring a lawn chair.”

How did the festival start?

McLeod said, “Key West is such an artsy community. Something is going on all the time in Key West. So here I have this idea. Hey, let’s get the churches together, out in the community as well, and celebrate our faith together. So that’s how it started. Let’s get out in the community. Let’s come out of those churches, come out into the park and just have a good time together.”

For more information, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/bayview-park-key-west/2nd-annual-goombay-gospel-extravaganza/492429283565669/