International Celebration of Playing For Change Day at Over 200 Venues Including Ibiza, Diamante, Saskatchewan, Sarajevo, and Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Playing For Change, the foundation created to promote peace and international co-operation through music, will celebrate its sixth annual Playing For Change Day with events at over 200 venues around the world on Saturday, September 24. Playing For Change Day will include participation by PFC and affiliated organizations in countries such as the U.S., Canada, France, Argentina, Bosnia, and Spain, pursuing mutual agendas such as music education, cross-cultural learning, conflict resolution, and more.

Among the high-profile, international celebrations, Ibiza's will offer 30 local bands performing across four stages on Cala Llonga Beach.

Iconic artists supporting PFC include Jimmy Buffett, Sara Bareilles, Bono, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Ziggy Marley, Keb Mo, Keith Richards, and more.

For Sarajevo's second annual Playing For Change Day, the Bosnia and Herzegovina capital will host the world's largest creative roster. Over 100 musical acts will perform at the Jazz Club Monument, which will sponsor the event, carrying themes of peace and the beauty of diversity. In Diamante, a music therapy workshop overseen by Santiago Buzzi is among the day's activities, which also will include live performances from several of Argentina's popular bands.

Canada's participation features Saskatchewan events ranging from live music to the Playing For Change Film Festival at the Regina Public Library Film Theater. There also will be a Songs 4 Nature Workshop at The Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Playing For Change Concerts in Montmartre, Change Your Strings For Change at Sawchyn Guitars in Regina, and a PFC Day at the Artful Dodger.

In the United States, Los Angeles will screen Landfill Harmonic, a touching documentary about life in Cateura, an area located in the outskirts of Ascension, Paraguay. Rock & Brews El Segundo will donate a percentage of sales, while musical acts will populate East L.A. schools, cafés, various stages, and street corners, this format also being adopted by many cities across the US with some variations. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, a four day festival is intended to unify humanity, celebrate life, and leave the land better than it was found. Another approach to PFCDay will come on September 25 from Miami Beach's Sweating For Change, a joint venture between Barry's Bootcamp and Sweet Liberty bar, whose Happy Hour will feature live music and cocktails.

Back in California, Huntington Beach will offer Fully Fullwood's Reggae Sunday, which will not only feature the popular area band at Don The Beachcombers, and PFC's Afro Fiesta during the show's second act. Also appearing at the L.A. event will be the Playing For Change Band, which includes studio drummer Peter Bunetta, New Orleans legend Grandpa Elliott, and Cuban bassist Orbe Ortiz. Since its formation over five years ago, the PFC Band has cycled-in world musicians and vocalists such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Mermans Mosengo, Brazil's Paulo Heman, Japan's Keiko Komaki, Israel's Tal Ben Ari "Tula," and The Netherlands' Clarence Bekker, embracing disparate cultures and traditions for one creative mix.

This PFC global collective will broadcast its message of the positive power of music through multiple broadcast mediums and internet platforms, creating a global day of action that brings music into the lives of children around the world while encouraging positive social change.

On September 16, the Playing For Change Foundation joined with UNICEF for the second annual United Nations Youth Summit. About the event, Executive Director John A. MeKenna explained to The Huffington Post, "Being recognized by the world's foremost advocate and protector of children's rights, UNICEF, as a viable partner in the offerings to children in Latin America and the Caribbean, is one that brings pride, but more importantly, a tremendous degree of earned responsibility and commitment to make a difference on a huge scale. Of course, we are most proud of the growth, happiness and joy reflected daily in the kids. This is what change really looks like."

Proceeds from the event will help support the Playing For Change Foundation's efforts to strengthen music and arts education, build music schools, support teachers and performances, purchase instruments, and connect schools to promote cross-cultural learning and conflict resolution.

To find a PFC Day event near you, please visit this website for more information: https://playingforchangeday.org/

Landfill Harmonic documentary film and performance by the children of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura:
Saturday, Sept 24
2:00-4:30pm
FREE and open to the public.
Torres Auditorium
Torres-East LA Performing Arts Magnet
4211 Dozier Street, Los Angeles, CA 90063

About PFC Day
On Saturday, September 24, 2016, thousands of fans and supporters of the Playing For Change Movement, and humanitarians worldwide, will celebrate the Sixth Annual Playing For Change Day. PFC Day unites communities through music, and raises awareness and funds for music education. The event will build on the success of PFC Day 2015, during which thousands of volunteers organized more than 300 synchronized events in 52 countries on 6 continents. Proceeds from PFC Day will provide support for the Playing For Change Foundation's free music education programs that give children around the world the opportunity to develop new skills and find personal expression through the arts. For more information: pfcday.org.

About Playing For Change Foundation
The Playing For Change Foundation was established in 2007, providing music education in areas that are culturally rich yet economically challenged.  Children in countries around the world, from Africa to Latin America to Southeast Asia, attend free classes in music, dance and languages, taught by qualified local music teachers and led by regional administrators. Students learn about their own cultural traditions while employing technology to connect and share experiences with others around the world.

Playing For Change, led by Co-Founders Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke, arose from the universal belief that music can connect people  across circumstances, challenges and cultural differences.  In 2002, a small group of filmmakers set out with a mobile recording studio in search of inspiration and the heartbeat of the human race on the streets.  The first music video production, "Stand By Me," combined 35 musicians from 10 countries who had never met in person. The phenomenon swept across the world, with "Stand By Me," one of the Playing For Change productions, being viewed over 100 million times online and counting.

Additional information: https://playingforchange.org/about

Media Contact:
Kelly MacGaunn
Bobbi Marcus PR & Events, Inc.
[email protected]

Photo(s):
http://www.prlog.org/12589180
Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Playing For Change Foundation