Merengue Festival in Puerto Rico Announced

The Tourism Promotion Office (OPT) in Puerto Rico and the Association of Hotels of Santo Domingo have officially announced The Brugal Merengue Festival 2008 which will be held July 24-27.

The event, being heralded as a simultaneous celebration of the Caribbean beat in San Juan and Santo Domingo will feature a synchronized live closing in both capitals.

"The Festival began in the Dominican Republic in 1967 to create a special attraction for tourists, mainly Puerto Ricans visiting Santo Domingo" said Cosette Garcia, Director of the OPT. "  Since then it has become a regular annual activity that attracts tens of thousands of people to the Dominican capital.  This is the 41st edition of the Merengue Festival."

In Puerto Rico, performers include Los Hermanos Rosario, Milly Quezada, El Prodigio, Joseph Fonseca, Grupo Mania, Limite 21, Bonny Cepeda, Los Sabrosos del Merengue and Grupo Mayombe at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.

In the Dominican Republic, the festival opens on Thursday 24 July with a special tribute to Bonny Cepeda, with rythms from the 1980s and a performance by India Canela. On the 25th, onstage at the Avenida del Puerto, Fernando Villalona, Kilo el Presidente and Banda Gorda will perform. On the stage in Santo Domingo East, Las Chican and Julian Oro Duro are programmed. On Saturday, 26 July, Pochy Familia and his Coco Band, Querubanda and Eddy Herrera will take the stage. And on Sunday, 27 July, there will be two simultaneous concerts, one from the Avenida del Puerto with Sergio Vargas, Geovanny Polanco and El Torito Hector Acosta, and another with Fefita la Grande and El Jeffrey.

Meanwhile, on Sunday 27 July in Puerto Rico, Los Hermanos Rosario, Milly Quezada, El Prodigio, Joseph Fonseca, Grupo Mania, Limite 21, Bonny Cepeda, Los Sabrosos del Merengue and Grupo Mayombe will perform at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.

For more information in Puerto Rico, contact the Tourism Office at 890 Ashford Avenue, Local C-3, Condado, San Juan, call 787 722-0881

For more information in the Dominican Republic: www.godominicanrepublic.com.