Lindenberg Junior
The 2nd annual Vegas Loves Brazil is shaping up to be a “must attend” event for the entire Vegas valley and beyond. Last year’s festival (*2013) drew in 6000 people to the Clark County Amphitheater but this year (*2014)has moved to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and will have an international Brazilian star – master percussionist, composer and singer Carlinhos Brown. “Last year was crazy. We exceeded all expectation on how many people would come. It was an amazing and educational experience on how we wanted to do it in 2014” said the co-founder and producer Van Meer.
The events originally started out as small invites among Van Meer’s Facebook friends where the groups would meet up at various local parks to celebrate and indulge in the Brazilian culture. It wasn’t until late in 2012 when Van Meer and the festival’s co-founder Cliff Martin began the rigorous planning stage to bring the unique Brazilian culture to the masses.”Our fundamental belief was that all of Las Vegas has to experience the Brazilian culture and what we know to be a perfect formula of entertainment for everyone to enjoy” add Van Meer.
The 2014 festival will take place on April 5th and 6th from 11am to 11pm at the parking lot area of Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and will feature an array of entertainment and fun for the whole family including fifty booths showing off the best in Brazilian food, crafts and services, and a area with twenty carnival rides, from a Farris wheel to a small roller coaster.
The founders wish that the festival reach every aspect of fun for those individuals and families who plan to attend the event. This year the public will have a chance to immerse into the culture also through the free workshops of Brazilian Samba dance classes, capoeira and samba percussions that will be offer. A bar area will offer several beer options and the official Brazilian cocktail “Caipirinha” for those adults 21 and over. Tickets for the event can be purchased for $8 at instagram profile, and kids under 5 years old get in free.
Main Music Attraction: Carlinhos Brown
Born Antonio Carlos Santos de Freitas in Salvador, Bahia, “Carlinhos Brown” is a musician, songwriter and record producer with a musical style that blends Afro-Brazilian and Reggae with traditional Brazilian percussion. He founded the musical group Timbalada that consist in 100 percussionists and singers, called “timbaleiros” (the majority of them young kids from the Candeal neighborhood of Salvador, where Carlinhos was born), and Tribalistas (with Arnaldo Antunes and Marisa Monte) contributing with vocals and drums to their self-titled album Os Tribalistas.
My artist name Carlinhos Brown doesn’t come from James Brown as people think. It is inspired in Henry Box Brown, a black person that escaped from slavery in a box. I also tried to learn from the good (and not the mistakes) of H. Rap Brown, of the Black Panther movement”, says Mr. Brown.
In 1996 Carlinhos Brown appearing on the album Roots by the International Brazilian metal band Sepultura and in 1997 he made a cameo appearance performing the song “A Namorada” in the 1997 American film Speed 2: Cruise Control that was also part of the film’s soundtrack. Most recently, in 2011, he has collaborated with Los Van Vans to record the track “Soy Loco Por Tí, América” for to the Red Hot Organization’s and was nominated for an Academy Award for his musical contributions in the animated film Rio. The festival brings also two extra attractions from Brazil – Carla Visi former singer of Cheiro de Amor from Bahia and Banda Cine from Sao Paulo.
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