Looking for a family-friendly event on Sunday afternoons this summer? Check out Reggae on West Beach in New Bedford's South End.

The events started in 2017, and are held at the beach pavilion from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the last Sundays of June, July and August.

Fitz Lamarre, one of the organizers of Reggae on West Beach joined Townsquare Sunday this week to discuss the origins of the event, and what will be happening on July 31 and August 28.

"Working with the CEDC, our fiscal sponsor, and the City of New Bedford, it's just a real great set-up. We're working together as a team to get a lot done, together," Lamarre said.

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Chakira Gonsalves and Frank Barros Jr. also make up the Reggae on West Beach team. Besides the music supplied by DJs from Providence and locally, Reggae on West Beach is also a pop-up marketplace with table-vendors selling their wares and food trucks as well.  Lamarre said the food vendors sold out at the June event.

Lamarre believes Reggae on West Beach, in its five-year history, has had an enormous cultural impact on the community.

"With it being a family-friendly event and the reggae music lends itself to being a more relaxed, laid-back environment anyway, so I think folks that wouldn't have been exposed to that kind of music or the culture of it all with the food and the dancing, they get to come out and are quite grateful," he said.

DJ Sleepy and DJ Fresco will provide the music at the West Beach Pavilion on Sunday, July 31. Local talents DJ Bee Mags of WNB One Radio and Jahban will do the same on August 28.

If you attend on either date, Lamarre is asking that you bring non-perishable food items to stock the PACE Food Bank.

The compete interview with Fitz Lamarre can be heard here:

Townsquare Sunday is a weekly public affairs program heard every Sunday morning at 6 and 11 a.m. on 1420 AM and 99.5 FM.

The program highlights individuals and organizations working to make the SouthCoast a better place to live.

If you would like your organization featured on Townsquare Sunday, please email the host at jim.phillips@townsquaremedia.com.

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