Brooklyn, NY:-  New Yorkers are gearing up for what some are saying will be the boatride of the summer – The First Annual Carnival Village Celebrity Affair with The Mighty Sparrow and Friends, scheduled for the evening of Sunday, August 24, 2008,  aboard the luxurious Golden Sunshine. 
 
Sponsored by the Center Care Health Benefit Program entity and Budweiser, and presented by Hopkins & Harris Promotions in association with Tropical Islanders Pageant, this inaugural event will showcase the best in vintage calypso, soca and reggae music, headlined by the grandmaster himself, The Mighty Sparrow. 
 
The event is also expected to draw a mostly mature crowd of cruisers, who will be treated to the best in traditional Caribbean cuisine.  According to organizers, patrons of the celebrity affair will be offered an exotic menu, ranging from rice and peas to bake and codfish, all professionally prepared by Harris Catering.
 
“If you love the classic oldies and you also appreciate that which is new and hot, then this boatride is meant for you,” stated one of the organizers.
 
Music aboard the watercraft, will be provided by the veteran Trinidadian disc jockey Mad Man Maddy of  FM 104.7 and Carriacou’s contemporary crowd-pleaser Little B of WILD FM 96.7.
 
The Golden Sunshine, which is docked at Pier 2 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, will be open for boarding at 5 p.m. and will sharply head out to sea at 6 p.m.  
 
The other Carnival Village cultural activities, also aimed at inclusively bringing West Indians together to celebrate, showcase, preserve and promote the region’s culture here in North America, are the following:

• The Semi-Finals of the Carnival Village Annual International Labor Day Soca Monarch Competition, scheduled for The Marcus Garvey Center on Church Avenue in Brooklyn on August 23;
• Soca Gold at Carnival Village featuring Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, the Roy Cape Band and several major performing artists from various Caribbean nations - happening on Friday, August 29 at the Caribbean Performing Arts Center (C-PAC);
• The Finals of the Carnival Village Annual International Labor Day Soca Monarch Competition at 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 30; and
• The Labor Day Jump Off to be held on Sunday, August 31, at a venue to be announced.

Contact: HopkinsCommunicationsGrp@gmail.com or 718-930-1883.