Feel free to spill the wine
It’s all-out War this weekend at the Chavez Center
Famed 1970s funk, rock, Latin and R&B band War is coming to Keene to perform at the National Chavez Center’s second annual Song & Celebration Outdoor Festival Saturday.
“This year’s event is an ongoing effort to invite new visitors to the National Chavez Center to learn and share in the legacy of Cesar Chavez,” Monica Parra, the center’s conference and events manager, wrote in an e-mail.
“(It’s an) outdoor event, bring your lawnchairs, blankets and enjoy the music in the beautiful Tehachapi Mountains,” Parra said.
War became famous for such classic hits as “Low Rider,” “Spill the Wine,” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” Joining them will be Mento Buru and Rock A Mole.
Parra said the music and wine- tasting event is a great Father’s Day weekend outing as well an opportunity to learn about the struggles of farmworkers.
Last year’s event featured The Voices of Latin Rock with Jorge Santana, Abel Sanchez and Marcos Reyes, according to Parra, and drew more than 600 visitors.
“We are trying to bring people out here to La Paz to share not only the spiritual aspect of who we are,” she said, but also to make everyone aware of the center’s rich educational programs.
“There’s no better way to reach out to people with the message of our history than through music,” she said.
The “Song & Celebration” theme for the festival comes from the poem “Prayer of the Farm Workers’ Struggle,” written by Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers together with Dolores Huerta. Two lines of the poem read, “Bring forth song and celebration; So that the spirit will be alive among us,” Parra said.
Open Calais
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GO & DO
What: The National Chavez Center’s second annual Song & Celebration Outdoor Festival
When: 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road in Keene
General admission: $20 (children 10 and under, $10)
Information: 823-6248 or mparra@nfwsc.org