There are those who believe that the music world is full of animals, especially when it comes to rock music. On Saturday 5 June, these folks will be proven right, at least for a day, as Petapalooza takes over Grand Harbour for a day of music.
The day will feature live performances by local bands and musicians including Suckerbox, Madamspeaker, Barefoot Man, Sea n B, Big Eye Squirrel, Suite Elite, Gary Ebanks and the Free 2 Be Ensemble, The Carlos Magas Band, Bonafide, Red White and Blues and Jeff Alban.
“All these artists have donated their time in order to play for free at the event…allowing us to run this concert with free admission,” says Patrick Bourque, sponsorship coordinator for the event.
This pet-friendly event has become a very important fundraiser for the Cayman Islands Humane Society, with Carolyn Parker, president of the Humane Society, saying that the funds raised will go towards the expansion of their facility in order to better serve the neglected and abandoned pets of Cayman.
Patrick is very hopeful that this year’s event will be every bit as successful as past events. However, this will require not only the support of the music and animal lovers of Cayman, but also the support of corporate sponsors.
“For last year’s event we were pleasantly surprised by the level of corporate support we received in terms of sponsors. We set a target of CI$ 5,000 for sponsorship and completely overshot that amount by reaching nearly CI$ 10,000, before the event kicked off. This coming during a year of economic uncertainty, where marketing budgets are tight, is truly a sign of dedicated support from our corporate partners,” he says.
According to Patrick, companies used varying approaches to raising money for the event last year.
“Many companies offered a cheque, no questions asked, while others held paid casual days for their staff in the days leading up to the event and donated the proceeds in exchange for a sponsorship; some even donated more than the requested amount, much to our delight,” he says. WH