Salsa artist Ruben Blades will host the third annual Cultural Rhythms festival next Saturday night at Memorial Hall.

The festival, sponsored by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, will feature music and dance performances in Sanders Theater, followed by an international food festival in the Great Hall of Memorial Hall. More than twenty student groups, including the Kuumba Singers, Mainly Jazz and the Hellenic Club, will participate.

The host is a actor, singer and composer who specializes in salsa, an Afro-Caribbean folk style of performance. Blades received a Master's degree from Harvard Law School in 1985, and the same year won a Grammy award for Best Album. He has also starred in several American films, including Crossover Dreams, Fatal Beauty, and most recently. The Milagro Beanfield War, which is scheduled for release this year.

Blades has used his music to describe Latin American political repression and has participated in musical benefits supporting Amnesty International and homeless children in New York. He will not perform at the Harvard festival.

Robert L. Henry '90, a member of the Foundation, said a student committee chose Blades to host the event because he was "active in the community, had celebrity status, and was someone who students wanted to see." The artist will spend Friday night at Cabot House, and will eat two meals with students picked by the Cabot masters and Foundation members.

More than 1000 people attended last year's Cultural Rhythms festival during the long weekend, and an even larger audience is expected this year, said Palisa R. Kelley '88, who organized the performance aspect of the event. Ticket sales are expected to raise about $5000.

The Foundation will donate the proceeds to one of several groups that aid the homeless, said Harvard Foundation Director S. Allen Counter.

The purpose of the festival, said Kelley, is "to introduce everyone on the campus to all the ethnic groups and racial diversity here."

The festival will open with a traditional Greek dance by members of the Hellenic Society dressed in 19th century garb, said Andreas Beroutsos '88, the president of the group. Other organizations will present traditional music and dances from countries in Africa, India and Asia, as well as Scotland and Mexico.

In addition, the Kuumba Singers, the Callbacks, and jazz soloist Fiona Anderson '88 will sing gospel and folk music. The H Band--the campus group Men of Clay accompanied by a pianist--and classical guitarist Leo Ramos '88, will also perform.

After the performances, ticketholders can sample ethnic foods from booths in the Great Hall. The Armenian Club will provide kusta, an Armenian dish made with bulgur wheat, scallions and coriander. Baklava, small meatballs, and stuffed grape leaves will grace the Hellenic Society's booth, and the Scottish dancers will offer shortbread. Eight other groups will also share ethnic delicacies.