Salinas Music and Arts Summit 2010 July 11, 2010

Salinas, CA: Join the family fun festivities on Sunday, July 11th and Sunday, August 8th from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm at Natividad Creek Park in Salinas. This free music and arts event is designed to inspire an appreciation of the arts to both audiences and performers. Event lineups will showcase local and popular bands, musicians, schools, and organizations. An outdoor art exhibit will highlight local artists of all mediums. Food, kids corner, jumping houses, Skate Park, games, educational booths and free live entertainment! Bring your lawn chair and enjoy the festivities of the day.

Featured performers on the Amphitheater Youth Stage include Carmel Strings, a group of Youth Music Monterey Chamber Players (Edie Ellison, Aaron Dally, Peter Mellinger & Ari Freedman) performing a repertoire of pop hits and classical music. Also included in the line-up are youth dancers from Hula Ohana from the YMCA in Salinas, youth musicians of Alisal Percussion, and other local youth groups. The Village Stage will include local and popular bands performing rock, reggae and Banda music.

This event is brought to you by community members from Alisal Rotary, Baktun Twelve, Alisal Percussion, Youth Music Monterey, Rancho Cielo, Return of the Natives, Salinas Public Library, Salvation Army of Salinas and the City of Salinas Parks & Recreation.

Cardboard Hill goes Creative

Natividad Creek Park, also known as “cardboard hill” to local residents will be featuring its creative arts side on Sunday, July 11th and Sunday, August 8th, 2010. A group of community members led by the Alisal Rotary have come together to bring this free family friendly event to the east side of Salinas and showcase local and popular bands, musicians, schools, and organizations. The park has made a major transformation from its cardboard hill days when it was a pile of dirt with scattered mattresses and garbage. Neighborhood kids at the time, including Vanisha Evans Douvon, orchestra manager of Youth Music Monterey and Omar Murillo of Alisal Percussion remembers sliding down the dirt hill on torn pieces of cardboard for summer entertainment. Nowadays, residents can enjoy a play structure area, lush green grass, and an amphitheater stage for impromptu performances. “Hopefully, we can get an inflatable slide donated to commemorate the days when the park was just a land field” says Douvon.

The park still has some areas that need clean-up and attention. For instance, the children’s discovery area has been tagged with graffiti and litter, and the seasonal grass could use mowing, so two weeks prior to each event, Nathalia Carrillo of the Alisal Rotary and volunteers from Return to the Natives will organize a much deserved clean-up at the park to gear up for the festivities. The area will be a new children’s discovery zone which will feature arts & crafts, the public library’s bookmobile, games, a jumping house and even a piñata every hour!

Families are encouraged to check out the entire park including a temporary stage at the opposite end of the amphitheater, dubbed to the organizers as “The Village”. Rafael Garcia, Alisal Eagles V.P. and director of Baktun Twelve vision for the Village Stage incorporates musicians of local and popular bands with music ranging from rock, reggae and Banda. Patrons are invited to bring their lawn chairs and enjoy the breath taking scenery of the Salinas Valley mountains and enjoy the park’s full beauty including its walking trails, a river creek, and bird sanctuary.

Enjoy summer family fun in Salinas!