A group with the Harlem Festival of Culture wants to take on an enormous task which was inspired by Questlove’s Oscar and Grammy award-winning documentary, Summer of Soul, to bring back the eclectic festival to Harlem.
The six-week festival took place during the summer of 1969, where thousands of people attended, celebrating Black history, culture, music and fashion.
What You Need To Know
- Inspired by Questlove’s award-winning documentary, Summer of Soul, which told the story of a convert series that took place in Harlem in 1969, a group is reimagining the series for a comeback
- The six-week festival took place during the summer of 1969, where thousands of people attended celebrating Black history, culture, music, and fashion.
- The location and date are still being planned out, but the group did confirm that the reimagined festival will return during the summer of 2023
Musa Jackson attended the festival when he was five years old and he said now is the perfect time to bring it back.
“It’s been away from us for so long we’re talking over 50 years, what better time than now to bring back something so culturally significant,” Jackson, co-founder of the Harlem Festival of Culture, said.
The documentary highlighted some socioeconomic issues the Harlem community faced during the civil rights movement. Nikoa Evans says part of the design of this re-created festival will address current community issues.
“We’re bringing programming that’s going to support the community and highlight some of the issues that are important from physical and mental health, we’ve also got programming that’s going to focus on the youth,” Evans, co-founder of the Harlem Festival of Culture and is working on the festival’s strategy and business development, said.
Roger Parris, a lifelong Harlem resident, attended the 1969 festival at what is now known as Marcus Garvey Park when he was 24 years old.
“It was here in this lawn and back then the pool wasn’t here so the lawn extended further back,” Parris, 77, said while showing the areas of Marcus Garvey Park he recognized from the festival.
“Harlem was going through a serious heroine epidemic, where people were afraid, a lot of businesses were closing,” Parris said.
He mentioned the festival was a much needed pause during that difficult time.
“It gave people a chance to exhale and feel something positive. It was a beautiful day in the black neighborhood,” Parris explained.
For Parris, bringing back the concert series is a good way to preserve that uplifting history but admits it probably won’t be the same.
“It’s hard to recreate genius, but I think just the history of it should be preserved,” he said.
The festival back then featured a cross-section of music and genres from Jazz to Gospel to R&B. Founders of the reimagined festival said the festival will take place during the summer of 2023 but aren’t ready to release the names of artists.
“I’m looking forward to inspiring other young children that want to be involved in music, entrepreneurship, I’m really inspired,” Yvonne McNair, co-founder of the Harlem Festival of Culture and is working on technical and talent, said.
Even though the group hasn’t confirmed a location for the upcoming concert series, they promised the festival will take place in Harlem.