THE FESTIVAL
Music blaring, wild colors, dazzling parades, and dancing in the streets: Kanaval is the ULTIMATE party of the year…and it just got so much better! Grammy Award-winning indie rock band, Arcade Fire, has announced they will play a free outdoor concert in Jacmel, Haiti, on February 21st, 2014 as the headliners of the festival JAKMEL JOUBARE’N! Performing along with an amazing lineup of famous local Haitian musicians including BélO, RAM, Kreyol LA, Symbi Roots (RaRa Famn), DJ Tony Mix, Hotmen Rap, Lakou Mizik, 45 Soliders, and DJ Gardy, the free festival will take place at the Place Toussaint Louverture in downtown Jacmel at 7PM. Check out all the details below.

ABOUT THE BAND
Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Régine Chassagne’s parents were born in Haiti, then fled under the oppressive Duvalier regime. Her family’s experience is alluded to the Arcade Fire song “Haiti”, in which Chassange sings, “Mes cousins jamais nés hantent les nuits de Duvalier (My unborn cousins haunt Duvalier’s nights)”. Haiti holds a special and deeply personal place in the hearts of this Montréal-based band. After the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince in 2010, Chassange responded with a heartfelt call to action, awareness, and donations to Paul Farmer’s Partners in Health, in her letter “I let out a cry, as if I’d heard everybody I loved had died”. Since then, Arcade Fire has been extremely active and generous in charity and activist work benefitting Haiti, exploring Haitian musical heritage and drumming with the help of RAM, pledging $1million of their own money to reconstruction, and playing benefit shows and festivals, including our TIFF Brunch in the fall, to help spread the word for this awesome cause!

To remind their fans of the overwhelming poverty afflicting Haiti, lead vocalist and songwriter Win Butler decorated his guitar with the Haitian proverb, “Sak vide pa kanpe,” which means, “An empty sack cannot stand up.”

Arcade Fire’s fourth and latest album, “Reflektor”, was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2013 with its title track’s innovative and interactive music video shot by Vincent Morisset in Jacmel, Haiti with help from graduate students of our very own Ciné Institute! “Reflektor” has also just recently been nominated for 6 Juno awards!  The album is influenced by the Haitian musical tradition of rara, the 1959 film Black Orpheus, and Søren Kierkegaard’s essay “The Present Age”.

“We were interested in doing hybrid beats that could translate stuff that I know from my family background in Haiti. I was always interested to try to find rhythms that mean something, to communicate emotion through rhythm and music. Because rhythm is almost like a vocabulary,” Chassagne told the Guardian. Following this show in Jacmel, Haiti on February 21st, Arcade Fire has been confirmed to headline this year’s Glastonbury and Primavera Sound festivals in Pilton and Barcelona! Want a sneak peek of all the fun and music to come at Jakmel JouBare’n? Check out Arcade Fire’s song “Afterlife” off their latest album!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r75BFcH4u2k

Over on the West Coast the buzz is building as we kickstart the new year with an amazing star-studded benefit event, Hollywood Domino! Since 2008, Hollywood celebrities and influencers have gathered for an exclusive pre-Oscar game of dominoes taking a break from the glitz and glam for a great cause. 100% of the funds raised at this black-tie gala will be directed to Artists for Peace and Justice as we start another groundbreaking year full of growth and progress in Haiti. Join Bovet Fleurier, Maria Bello, Gerard Butler, Jon Hamm, Kevin Jonas, Omar Epps, James Marsden, Jared Leto, Olivia Wilde and so many more as they play to spread awareness and give hope to Haiti!

“By working with Artists for Peace and Justice, I’ve seen the remarkable impact this organization has on the children living in Haiti’s slums. With its mission to provide free education to these young girls and boys, Artists for Peace and Justice has given me an opportunity to make a difference as a neighbor. I’m so proud and excited that our Hollywood Domino event will benefit such a noble cause,” says Daya Fernandez, Founder of Hollywood Domino.

On Thursday February 27th, the 7th annual Hollywood Domino Event presented by Bovet 1822 will take place before the year’s biggest awards show at the Sunset Tower Hotel in Los Angeles with HudsonMOD as the exclusive media sponsor.

“From its conception, HudsonMOD has always strived to combine the realm of the luxury lifestyle and all that it embodies with charitable causes. Having been invited to sponsor Hollywood Domino has been an absolute honor and we look forward to raising even more awareness and funds for Artists for Peace and Justice throughout this celebratory evening,” says Shannon Steitz, President/Publisher of HudsonMOD.

N8+ Jazz Band will be performing standards from the Old Hollywood era.

All proceeds go to Artists for Peace and Justice, get your insider access ticket to Hollywood’s hottest pre-Oscar event HERE 

Last weekend, the New York Times published the Op-ed  “Haiti, Unfinished and Forsaken.”

“Four years after the earthquake, Haiti is a fragile, largely forgotten country. It’s possible that some natural or man-made crisis this year could push it back into the headlines. But sustained attention, with the kind of support from outside that Haiti still needs to rebuild and become more self-sufficient, is mostly gone.”

Here at Artists for Peace and Justice, we’re thrilled to be an organization that’s the exception to the rule. APJ isn’t a trend; it’s a commitment. In fact, an APJ Advisory Board delegation is travelling to Port-au-Prince this week to visit our programs and observe on-the-ground progress of how their substantial, long-term investment is generating sustainable results in the lives of our students and their communities. APJ is in Haiti for the long-haul.

The United Nations just released their new Haiti Humanitarian Action Plan for 2014, calling attention to Haiti’s most critically at-risk  populations who are affected by food insecurity, displacement, malnourishment, and infectious water borne diseases such as Cholera.

According to the UN’s reports, the number of humanitarian partners in Haiti has fallen to a fifth of its 2010 presence as funds dry up and cameras move on. At APJ, we believe access to quality secondary education and modern technical expertise will change a nation not for just for one generation, but forever . Our work is far from finished! Based on our track record and with your continued support, the Academy for Peace and Justice will service 3,000 underprivileged students at full capacity in 2016. Join us and help make 2014 the year to reenergize our efforts and exceed our expectations.

Let’s continue to grow!