Festival the Summer Away - festivals to be held in the summer of 1999 - includes related schedule information

American Visions, June, 1999 by Qadirah N. Shakir

Summertime infuses us with a wanderlust and then brings us an abundance of festivals. The message? Release yourself from stuffy work clothes, petty inhibitions and daily responsibilities for at least a long weekend.

Notice the wonder in a child's eyes as she glimpses a 10-foot-high mystical stilt walker in colorful African costume parading the grounds of a heritage celebration. Give in to the hypnotic rhythms of a drum, compelling you to lose yourself in the beat of a music festival. No longer in control, your body moves, gyrates, bends and turns like a puppet on a string. Unafraid, you follow the music's lead, because you understand that this is not some force outside of you; this is you. Festivals allow us to share the joy, the family spirit, the sense of oneness that unites us all.

For an inspirational experience, June 11 through 13, there's Chicago's Gospel Festival, billed as the largest free-admission outdoor concert. Prefestival activities begin in early May at venues throughout the city. A partial roster of this year's performers includes Walter Hawkins and the Love Alive Choir, the Rance Allen Group, and the Canton Spirituals. Legendary gospel recording artist Inez Andrews will be honored as this year's Festival Salutee. An estimated 250,000 visitors are expected to crowd the lakefront for Gospel Fest, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

June 19, 1865: On that day our forebears held in bondage in Galveston, Texas, heard these words of jubilation: "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." Thus began the Southwestern emancipation celebration known as Juneteenth.

Though many freed slaves left the area immediately to plant roots in the North or to find loved ones in neighboring states, each year they would find their way back to Galveston to pray, recite the oral history of Juneteenth, and celebrate the blessing of finding and rebuilding families separated through the barbarism of slavery.

Festivities were a matter of convenience and availability. Because many folks lived on the outskirts of town, near open fields, creeks or rivers, such activities as fishing, baseball, rodeos, and, of course, picnics and barbecues were obvious choices. Food was (and still is) an integral part of the Juneteenth experience. Dress, too, was important. According to oral tradition, some newly freed slaves threw their tatters off in exchange for clothes taken from their former owners. It was a bold act of defiance, provoked by the many laws forbidding or strictly limiting the clothing of slaves.

For many decades, Juneteenth was honored across America, but mainly in Texas. In the 1940s, several factors caused the popularity of this emancipation day to fade: It was completely invisible in American classrooms. Families moved further and further away from their roots, causing a loss of the oral tradition. Younger generations of African Americans had no way of understanding the magnitude of Juneteenth. White employers were loath to give their black employees a day off, so unless Juneteenth fell on a weekend, participation was slight.

Truth crushed to earth shall rise again. During the civil rights movement, there was a strong resurgence in the celebration, and interest in the history of Juneteenth took on new life. Local organizing committees began forming across the United States. Then, on January 1, 1980, nearly 120 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, Texas state legislator Al Edwards helped put Juneteenth on the map as an official state holiday.

Galveston's celebration is still one of the largest; this year it promises to be the best. From June 12 to 19, there will be special events, banquets, church services (including the NAACP's Jubilee Service at Shiloh AME Church), a parade, a Caribbean festival, a picnic and a block party.

Other Texas cities, including Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, hold Juneteenth celebrations, as do Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. And African Americans serving abroad at military bases, from Guam to Germany and South Korea, have Juneteenth 1999 plans under way.

New Orleans brings the annual Essence Music Festival to town July 2 to 4. This year's lineup is sizzlin': Patti LaBelle, R. Kelly, Lauryn Hill, Monica, Dru Hill, Erykah Badu, Brian McKnight, the Temptations, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Will Downing, Gerald Albright, the Spinners, the Ohio Players, Bobby Blue Bland, Jonathan Butler, the AW Band, the SOS Band, Third World and Miriam Makeba.

Despite the stellar list of performers, this is more than just a music festival. The festival also feeds mind and spirit by way of free empowerment seminars on a range of topics, a marketplace where you'll find beautiful arts and crafts, good food and more.

New York is rolling out the red carpet to host the 28th International African Arts Festival: four days of the best in world music, art, clothing, books, recitations, holistic health news and practices, food, jewelry, kids' activities and dance. The festival attracts tens of thousands of people each year. Celebrities, politicians, ministers and everyday folk come out to give thanks and share in the marvelous experience that is the African Arts Festival.