Third World Moves & Grooves Bele Chere Festival 2008

The 30th annual Bele Chere festival opened Friday with a multi-layered entertainment punch and ended with a mellow reggae groove at historic Memorial Stadium athletic park.

Along the way, there was plenty of food, crafts and children’s entertainment scattered around downtown. But as usual, music played the starring role, from rock to bluegrass, blues, folk and world beat sounds.

About 3,500 reggae fans poured into Memorial Stadium for powerful closing shows by the bands Third World and The Wailers, which could be heard many blocks away throughout lower downtown. It marked the first time Memorial Stadium was used for Bele Chere.

And it was the first time the festival presented an event so far from downtown Asheville. But it seemed to work. At 10 p.m., some were still buying tickets at the gate, Asheville’s festivals director Melissa Porter said. “A couple of thousand people enjoying a good show on a Friday night, to me that’s a success,” she added.
The Bele Chere festival is held each year in Ashville North Carolina and is regarded as the regions largest free street festival.

Asheville is one of the East Coast’s most vibrant cities recently named “Best Southern Town” by Outside Magazine. Drawing more than 300,000 visitors, Bele Chere offers the unique opportunity to see, taste and hear some of the region’s finest art, cuisine and music.

Bele Chere started in 1979 and was located on a whopping three blocks. It was the brainstorm of a handful of downtown Asheville merchants and business people with the vision of revitalizing our downtown business district, which was largely abandoned as retail businesses & residents moved to the suburbs. Now, downtown Asheville is home to restaurants, galleries, retail businesses, theatres, art exhibits, and a growing number of residents who call downtown “home.”


The Reggae News Agency

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