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Surrey’s rising R&B stars Manila Grey to headline Fusion Festival 4 years after losing band contest

Annual showcase of music, food and cultures returns to Holland Park on July 23-24
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Surrey-raised R&B duo Manila Grey, shown performing at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom in June, will headline the 2022 Surrey Fusion Festival. (Photo: facebook.com/manilagreymusic)

Surrey Fusion Festival’s 2022 theme “CommUNITY” will be displayed at more than 40 cultural pavilions when the event returns to Holland Park on the weekend of July 23-24.

Admission is free at the annual festival, which has been held virtually over the past couple of years.

This year’s headliners include Surrey-raised R&B duo Manila Grey, plus Canadian hip-hop artist Shad, Indian-Punjabi singer Sharry Mann, Surrey’s Zora Randhawa and others, during the festival’s annual showcase of music, food and cultures.

Manila Grey and Shad will perform on Saturday, July 23, while Mann and Randhawa will headline on Sunday, July 24.

Festival organizers announced the 2022 Fusion lineup on Wednesday, June 15, more than a month ahead of the event. Details are posted on the website surreyfusionfestival.ca, including performer bios.

Manila Grey is noted for their Juno nomination for Breakthrough Group of the Year.

“Born and raised in Surrey, Manila Grey are one of B.C.’s fastest growing artists,” raves an event advisory. “They have garnered over 60 million streams on Spotify, most notably with their songs ‘Silver Skies’ and ‘Timezones.’”

Back in 2018, Manila Grey were among finalists in Fusion Festival’s “Play Surrey” band contest, but lost to winner Sleepy Gonzales, a band given the prize of performing on a small stage at the festival that summer.

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This year, fellow Fusion headliner Shad “is one of Canada’s most revered rappers and is known as a wordsmith who embodies hip-hop’s power to entertain and educate. He won a Juno Award in 2011 for Rap Recording of the Year.”

Sharry Mann is a singer/actor recognized as a leader in the Punjabi music industry. Three years ago, Mann was booked to headline Surrey Fusion Festival in 2019 but his performance was cancelled days earlier, due to the death of his mother. He recently performed at Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre, on May 8.

Meantime, Surrey-based Punjabi artist Zora Randhawa has performed on world tours with Dr. Zeus, Gippy Grewal, Sharry Mann, Hard Kaur, Geeta Zaildar, Diljit Dosanjh and more.

Other performers at this year’s Fusion Festival include XL the Band, Babylung, Golosa La Orquesta, Balaklava Blues, Curtis Clearsky and the Constellationz, Sadé Awele and Serengeti, Mattmac, Yvonne Kushe and Luv Randhawa.

In the festival’s cultural pavilions, “attendees will learn about traditions from around that world that bring people together and build bridges between cultures.”

Now in its 15th year, the two-day event will also feature four music stages, two dance stages, a kid’s stage, dance lessons, workshops, an Indigenous Village and marketplace, dance battles and amusement rides. The festival will also showcase a new Cultural Cooking Arena where Surrey youth will compete in cooking competitions.

In a statement, Mayor Doug McCallum called Fusion Festival “the ultimate celebration of food, music and culture,” and thanked presenting sponsor Coast Capital for the company’s support over the past 15 years.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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