Percussed instruments may have been the original means of creative expression and communication, the musical beat tapping and pounding out the rhythms of human life itself. In an all-out celebration of drums and drummers, a worldwide variety of rhythms will echo through the Historic Rondout District from the natural amphitheaterlike lawn of Cornell Park this Saturday, September 19 from noon until 7 p.m. (with a rain date of Sunday, September 20). Drum Boogie Festival is a free daylong music event that will open with approximately 100 drummers ceremoniously setting the stage for seven more hours of entertainment that will feature top-name performers, both locally and internationally known, playing a variety of styles from around the planet. From North America this includes jazz, rock, contemporary, Native American and rudimental. Add Indonesian Gamelan from Bali, steel pan from Trinidad and Tobago and West African Ewe style, and you've got a multicultural mix that won't soon be forgotten.

"This first-ever event came about through a discussion with Kevin Cahill, who appreciates the arts and understands how they're intertwined with the economy," says Garry Kvistad, founder and CEO of Woodstock Chimes. "A rich cultural environment not only enhances, but also serves to attract, a thriving economic base in the community."

Produced by Kvistad and the Woodstock Chimes Fund, with major support through New York State Assembly member Cahill, the Drum Boogie Festival offers a stunning lineup of groups and performers that includes the Jack DeJohnette Trio with Jack DeJohnette, David Sancious and Roberto Quintero; rock drummer Jerry Marotta with bassist Tony Levin, Jesse Gress and Pete Levin; the Canadian percussion quintet Nexus with Bob Becker, Russell Hartenberger, Bill Cahn, Garry Kvistad and guest performers Tasa & Rob; Liam Teague; the Not-So-Traditional American Rudimental Drummers with Dominic Cuccia, Theresa Cuccia and featuring Nick Attanasio; Evry Mann and the youth dance and drumming group POOK (Percussion Orchestra of Kingston); plus the Silver Cloud Singers, an intertribal Native American singing and dance troupe, and the Giri Mekar Balinese Gamelan Orchestra led by master musician Tjokorda Gde Arsa Artha of Bali.

Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, picnic baskets and beverages to Cornell Park at Wurts and Hunter Streets in Kingston this Saturday. Come for an hour and stay all day. For more information see www.drumboogiefestival.com. The Woodstock Chimes Fund was established in 1986 by Diane and Garry Kvistad to support the community in the arts and in food and shelter programs; see www.chimes.com for more information.