Kid Creole helps ¡Vamos! celebrate 10 years of North East Latino pizzazz

LATINO music legends Kid Creole and the Coconuts are blowing into the North East in June to headline a dazzlingly different line-up for the 2015 ¡Vamos! Festival. They’ll be joining: Mexican wrestlers, Peruvian street artists, Mardi Gras partygoers, world music premieres, flamenco dancers and chocolate heaven as the home-grown multicultural festival goes to town to celebrate its 10^th anniversary. With events, exhibitions and hot rhythms scheduled from June 4-14 in Newcastle and North Tyneside, It’s promising to be the liveliest ¡Vamos! yet, according to organiser Nik Barrera. “We’ve come a long way in the last ten years and built up a huge following - and in 2015 the festival’s going to be hotter than ever!” he said. ¡Vamos! is putting down real roots this summer and permanently taking over the former Venue nightclub in Newcastle, where some of the festival’s events will take place. The festival celebrates all that’s great about world culture, with a particular focus on the Portugese and Spanish-speaking countries. Nik said: “We’re extremely excited about our line-up for this year, and we’re delighted to have Kid Creole and the Coconuts hosting our Summer Evening Party on Saturday, June 13, with a special Latino set. “And we’ve a vast array of other artists and attractions lined up to make sure we get the biggest audiences we’ve ever had – we’ve even got a special fiesta for chocolate-lovers.” This year the event – funded by Newcastle University, Arts Council England, the Mexican Embassy and Instituto Cervantes - is expanding its range even further. A Mexican-themed Mardi Gras parade will fill Newcastle’s Northumberland Street with sound and colour on Saturday, June 6, with the help of children from more than ten local schools, organised by Sara Lourenco and building on the success of last year’s event. “We’ll also be inviting people to come along and enjoy a Daytime Picnic on Saturday, June 13, with live salsa, DJs Coco Vega and Alx Alfaro, plus street food stalls, live Zumba and children’s games,” said Nik. Kitsch cinema will be celebrated with screenings of Argentinian icon Isabel Sarli’s The Female and a free series of low-budget ‘Mexploitation’ films from the 60s and 70s at the Tyneside Café, complete with Mexican beers and a Latin-inspired menu from chef Tom Adlam. Add in street art, dance, print-making, flamboyant wrestling with international superstar Cassandro as the popular Boiler Shop Steamer event goes ¡Vamos!  and even an album launch – by Gran Canaria flamenco musician Paco Bethencourt – and it all adds up to an extraordinary festival. Kid Creole – aka Bronx-born August Darnell – who will be appearing with the Coconuts on Saturday, June 13, said: “We’re excited to be headlining the 10^th ¡Vamos! Festival – it’s an amazing multicultural carnival and we’re looking forward to it.” Nik, who was inspired by his father’s Colombian roots to start the festival in 2005, says the North East is leading the way in celebrating Latino culture in all its glory. “Visit our website - and be a part of the party!” he added.

• You can find out more about ¡Vamos! Festival, artists and events at www.vamosfestival.com and book tickets at www.seetickets.com/go/kidcreolevamos