Black L.U.V. Festival returns to Fort Dupont Park for 25th anniversary

WASHINGTON - The Black L.U.V. (Love.Unity.Vision.) Festival, being held in D.C. on Saturday, is celebrating the best of Black culture, arts, entertainment, and activism from across the DMV.

The festival is returning to the Fort Dupont Park Amphitheatre, where it started 25 years ago, on Saturday from 2 p.m. until 9:45 p.m. Fort Dupont Park is located at 3600 Minnesota Avenue in Southeast.

Festival goers will be able to enjoy plenty of music and poetry, and they can also shop at the festival's marketplace featuring Black-owned small businesses from around the DMV.

According to a press release, the free "cultural outdoor family event, uses the cultural arts as a vehicle of social change to inform and enlighten communities of the Nation’s Capital on education, social injustice, innovation, healthcare, collective economics, and violence prevention in underserved communities of color locally, domestically and internationally."

The event will also honor activists who have made social impacts within the Black Community, including Allen Uzikee Nelson, Januwa Moja, Haile Gerima, Shirikiana Aina Gerima, and the band Sugar Bear & EU.

"The return of Black L.U.V. Festival is a labor of love. With the loss of so many Black cultural arts events in DC, such as Stone Soul Picnic, Black Family Reunion, Unifest, U Street Festival, Georgia Avenue Day, Caribbean Day Parade, Malcolm X Day, the Black L.U.V. Fest25 wants to honor these events while continuing to return and address current social issues that impact our communities currently," said Karen Baker, an organizer for the event.

In addition to celebrating Black entertainment, shopping, and activism, Black L.U.V. Fest25 will feature a community resource area that will help festival goers learn more about organizations offering health and social services.

To learn more about the event click here.