Birmingham Freedom Fest

Birmingham Freedom Fest is a one-day music and empowerment festival held at Kelly Ingram Park. It began in July 2019 and then went virtual for 2020 and 2021. No event was held in 2022, but the festival returned in 2023 during Juneteenth weekend.

2019

The inaugural Freedom Fest was held on July 27, 2019. It was produced by the City of Birmingham with Rashada LeRoy's LRY Media Group. The event's main entrance was located at 6th Avenue North and 18th Street. Comedian Jermaine "FunnyMaine" Johnson served as emcee for the main stage.

Advance tickets were $33.50, with part of the proceeds to be donated to the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument.

Schedule

Main Stage

• Kristen Glover, Alvin Garrett and the 205 Unity Choir (12:05)
• Alvin Garrett (12:15)
• "The South Got Something To Say: Creative Consciousness" panel with Dana Woodruff, Allysa "LyssaLou" Singer, and Valencia "Mrs V" Johnson (12:45-1:10)
• DanI (1:30)
• Riah2Crucial (2:05)
• Ruben Studdard (2:30)
• Love Moore (4:00)
• "EmpowerHERment: The Beauty Session" panel with Jeffrey Simmons, Sheena Moore, Coco Moore, Darrius Peace and Courtney Kirk (4:40-4:55)
• Freedom Fest contest winner (6:30)
• Translee (7:00)
• Musiq Soulchild (8:50)
• 8ball & MJG (9:35)

Other venues

• "Sacred Spaces: Urban Planning in Historic Districts" panel with Ivan Holloway and Justin Moore, director of the New York City Public Design Commission (2:00-2:45 at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute)
• "Cracking Codes: The Power of STEM" panel with Ernie Williams, Denise Gregory, and Rayna Dyck (2:30-3:30 at St Paul United Methodist Church)
• "She Decides: A Courageous Conversation about Women’s Rights" panel with Kelly Ann Scott, Nadia Richardson, Melanie Bridgeforth, Vivian Figures and Linda Coleman-Madison (3:00-4:00 at 16th Street Baptist Church)
• "Pathways to Prosperity" panel with Anthony Hood, Ron Mathieu, Zhaundra Jones and Bacarra Mauldin (3:45-4:30 at St Paul United Methodist Church)
• "The Secrets of Her Success" panel with Pam Cook, Teresa Lundy, Ashlee Ammons and Carmen Bender, (4:00-4:45 at 16th Street Baptist Church)
• "Justice, Empathy and Advocacy" presentation by Doug Jones, Denise Gilmore, Randall Woodfin and Anthony Ray Hinton (5:00-6:00 at 16th Street Baptist Church, followed by book-signing)

References

• Beahm, Anna (May 28, 2019) "Music, civil rights festival coming to Birmingham July 27." The Birmingham News
• Beahm, Anna (June 12, 2019) "Here’s the lineup for Birmingham’s Freedom Fest music, civil rights festival." The Birmingham News
• Steward, Ameera (July 28, 2019) "Birmingham’s Inaugural Freedom Fest Entertains and Empowers." The Birmingham Times

External links

• Freedom Fest website