FRESNO, Calif., June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- As the nation celebrates its independence, Radio Bilingue will broadcast performances from Las Americas, the Latino music component of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival running June 24 through July 5 in Washington, D.C. with extraordinary folk artists who represent some of the best U.S. and Latin America musical traditions.

Radio Bilingue will cover the first half of the festival, broadcasting and webcasting the programs at 3 and 5 PM EDT June 24-29. Additional online platforms will include podcasts, audio on demand archives, news text and photos.

The special coverage is in collaboration with WLCH Radio Centro in Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania.

The outdoor festival attracts over a million visitors to the National Mall for a rich display of the nation's cultural diversity against the backdrop of Fourth of July festivities.

Las Americas is the final and most broad-reaching program of the Nuestra Musica: Music in Latino Culture Festival series with outstanding artists from the United States and Latin America engaging in cultural dialogue. Artists represent emblematic musical styles, including Puerto Rican bomba and plena, Mexican son and mariachi, Colombian vallenato, joropo, and currulao, Dominican merengue tipico, bachata, and salve, Chilean cueca and tonada, Venezuelan musica llanera, Paraguayan polca, Guatemalan marimba, and Salvadoran chanchona music.

Featured artists are Adalberto Cruz Alvarez and Jesus Garcia; Arpex; Cantadoras del Pacifico; Chanchona Los Hermanos Lovo; Ecos de Borinquen; Estrellas del Vallenato; Grupo Cimarron de Colombia; Grupo Cuero, Madera y Costa CUMACO; La India Canela; Los Camperos de Valles; Los Texmaniacs; Maestros del Joropo Oriental; Marcelo Rojas and Alvaro Marazzi; Mariachi Chula Vista; Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano; Son de Madera; and Viento de Agua.

Chelis Lopez, a long-time cultural arts promoter and on-air personality in San Francisco, will host the series.

Partial funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, The James Irvine Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

For more information, visit: http://www.saveoursounds.org/2009/las_americas/index.aspx.

Radio Bilingue is a community-based radio network with a satellite system that reaches 125 affiliates throughout the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico as well as its own six stations in California. Radio Bilingue provides news, information and cultural programming from its award-winning programs Noticiero Latino and Linea Abierta. Programming is also available via webcast on Radio Bilingue Internet: www.radiobilingue.org.

SOURCE Radio Bilingue

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