McLevy Green will be hopping when Downtown Thursdays starts June 20. See the full lineup here.
New York based Latin band F.S.U (Funk Salsa Urban) are making their mark in the music scene. Inspired by ’90s Latin group DLG, Funk Salsa Urban is fusing the basic Salsa rhythms with elements of Funk & Urban to create an inner city new sound. Between fusing the different types of rhythms, they are also using Spanglish lyrics to cater to a broader audience. “Latinos born in the US speak both languages simultaneously, so why not mirror that in our songs.” Since their debut in 2016, they’ve released 3 original songs “Amazing,” “Subelo,” “Ajena,” “No Hay Amor” and “Dale Down” as well as cover songs with their unique Funk Salsa Urban twist like their “Tribute to El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico,” “Colombian Medley” where the pay tribute to Colombian Salsa, a cover of Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk,” The Weeknd’s “Starboy” and Jonas Brothers “Sucker.”
Check them out www.fsumusic.com
I will be there. Get thing to do in Bridgeport!
The annual summer time series of evening music at McLevy Green is a natural hit for our community. The fact that there is no admission cost to the public is wonderful as well. The sounds of music travel the world over for “free”. At least there are always ways of gaining admission to the sound and rhythms without an expense.
But being aware of where the funds come from and to learn how the “public space” of a downtown park is shared with the public who attends is important, I believe, in Bridgeport. The City allocates the property, perhaps the cleanup and police department services at what expense? And the vendors and sponsors contribute at various levels so that bands, a/v gear, and promotion expenses are met, I suppose? Are taxpayer funds at any time, other than for the use of the property and services, as above, part of what makes for a “free event”? Time will tell.
JML, we won’t need time to tell because I’m transparent, lol.
1st and foremost, Downtown Thursday’s since 2015 has been completely programmed and funded through the hard work of I Luv BPT LLC. (www.iluvbpt.com) I Luv BPT is NOT a non-profit but works with the Bridgeport Arts + Cultural Council as our 501c3 fiduciary.
These concerts are NOT put together by the city of Bridgeport and 100% of costs are paid for by I LUV BPT including all park fees, electricity, insurance, Sound, Lighting, Staging, and Police overtime costs. DSSD provides cleanup support. In fact, in 2018 we paid over $15,000 in police overtime fees to provide these FREE concerts to everyone. It is not subsidized or absorbed with tax dollars. The city of Bridgeport mayor’s office has made $10,000 supportive contribution annually to help offset our $70,000 budget. 100% of all other monies used to bring this to life is put together through corporate partners and us begging anyone who will listen. We also do fundraisers throughout the year and individually we put up some of our own money . All of the 5 Founders of I Luv BPT are individual business owners and we promote our business but we use our own funds to pay fees when we come up short.
In 2015, we raised over $18,000 via a go fund me page which brought a lot of scrutiny because people just assumed there is a magic pot of money to host concerts at the Green. In 2018 we had sponsors like United Illuminating who gave $2500, Aquarian Water gave $1000, People’s Bank gave $1000, DSSD gave $2500. We literally had a couple who are friends of the BACC make a $10,000 donation knowing our struggles. The thought that the large companies pay big sponsorship fees is simply not true. We were in danger of cancelling the concerts last year and MGM Grand gave us a big donation to help us meet our target. Given the landscape we will not be saved by them this year.
This year we are about $15,000 short of our funding goal and we are package together to encourage 100 supporters to pay $150.00 to help us meet our shortfall. When we come up short the members of I LUV BPT foot the bill.
I hope this helps anyone interested understand how difficult it is to pull this off. We love Bridgeport and it’s in our name. I’m not complaining but sometimes folks don’t understand how these things come together and I for one wish we had funding in place annually like other well known music festivals around the state.
Kelvin Ayala
I Luv BPT – co-Founder
http://www.iluvbpt.com
http://www.downtownthursdays.com