September 4, 2003 – The night of October 18 will see the Paul E. Joseph Stadium in Fredriksted, St. Croix, transformed into a musical village as it will play host to the first annual St. Croix Tropical Gospel Fest.
Grammy Award winner Bobby Jones will be headlining the concert with his Nashville Superchoir, and there will be a host of other gospel performances soon to be announced, according to a release from Gospel Fest's organizer, Ra Genesis International, a special-event promotions company doing business in the territory for the first time with this concert.
A spokeswoman for Ra Genesis said that while this is the company's first foray on St. Croix, she hopes they'll be able to bring more concerts and other entertainment to the Virgin Islands in the future. She also mentioned how pleased she was that Mr. Jones has agreed to do the show.
Jones is probably best known as the creator, executive producer and host of Black Entertainment Television's nationally syndicated Sunday show, "Bobby Jones Gospel", but he has a catalogue of other accomplishments ranging from a role in the 1982 NBC television movie, "Sisters, Sisters", to receiving two Grammy Awards, one in '82 and another in '84.
Jones also authored and performed in the 1980 black gospel opera, "Make a Joyful Noise", which aired on PBS, and for which he won a Gabriel award.
In addition to the evening's gospel performances, the event's organizer is seeing to it that there will be plenty of food and other items for sale in a vendors area they're putting together.
"We're looking for people who are interested in selling any kind of product, from baked goods to gift and novelty items," the spokeswoman said.
Tickets for the concert went on sale August 25 and will be available for purchase from the St. Croix travel agency, World Connections, who is handling the event. To purchase tickets, make travel arrangements, or to find out more about how to be a vendor at this event, call World Connections at 778-7766.
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