CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There’s a wide array of music set to emphasize the 34th year of a multi-cultural and diversity festival in Charleston.
The Multi-Cultural Festival returns to the Capital City Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4.
The musical line-up for this year’s MultiFest celebrating diversity in the area includes The Chuck Brown Band, Ginuwine, Petey Pablo, Brian McKnight and more.
Organizers of the four-day event met with Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin among other city and community representatives Wednesday to announce the lineup. MultiFest Executive Director Tamara Eubanks said it’s an exciting lineup this year.
“The artists we have picked up this year have been phenomenal in working with us, so we’re very, very excited,” Eubanks said. “This music is not just for one set, it’s for all ages, different ethnicities.”
The festival will kick-off with “GoGo Night” featuring the Washington D.C-based Chuck Brown Band on Thursday, August 1. 
On Friday, August 2, is All White Ladies Night, where all of the ladies who attend the event are encouraged to wear their best white attire. R&B singer Ginuwine, who also hails from Washington D.C. will take the stage with his hit songs on that night followed by British rapper and radio personality from New York, Monie Love.
An all-day musical lineup on Saturday, August 3, Las Vegas-based Jazz musician Justin Young is the first to take the stage. He will be followed up by Joe Little III, the lead singer of Rude Boys out of Cleveland, Ohio. Greenville, North Carolina singer and rapper Petey Pablo will help headline Saturday’s lineup, along with Brian McKnight, an Atlanta, Georgia R&B singer.
Finally, on Sunday, August 4, Kelontae Gavin, a South Carolina gospel singer will kick off the day, followed by Paul Wall, a hip-hop performer, rapper and DJ out of Houston, Texas, and the Original Lakeside Band, an American funk band from Dayton, Ohio.
Eubanks said they listened to the community on what they wanted to see and hear.
She said they particularly had people approach them about bringing back GoGo Night after they held that theme for the first time last year.
Eubanks said the 34 year mark of MultiFest is a testament to everyone who comes together to help put the event on.
“We are the largest diversity festival within West Virginia, and one of the longest-running festivals within West Virginia, and that is solely due to our sponsors and the dedication of our board members who are volunteers, as well as the community who comes out and supports us,” she said.
Like in previous years, Eubanks said the festival will also host various food and artesian vendors, kids activities, and a Sunday morning worship session.
She said, though, that the music stands as an ultimate reflection of what the event is all about.
“We have jazz, we have R&B, we have hip-hop, we have gospel, and it represents a huge array of music that our participants will be exposed to as they come,” Eubanks said.
However, Eubanks said more than the music and activities, MultiFest is a chance for the community to come together and learn from one another and celebrate the diversity that makes them up.
The event will be held at Haddad Riverfront Park along the Kanawha Boulevard August 1-4.