Downtown African American Festival Celebrates Ann Arbor’s Black Heritage

Ann Arbor's Black community gathered at the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Ann Street on Saturday, June 7, to celebrate the city's 28th Annual African American Festival.

The festival included activities for kids, food, music, and dance. Live music and fashion shows continued through the early evening. 

More than 100 vendors offered everything from Nigerian, African, and Jamaican food to soul and smoked food. Festival attendees sampled specialties from Top Dog, Water's Kitchen, Sweet Dreams Cakes, Lucky Beez vegan food truck, Detroit Soul, and many other vendors.

The African American Festival also took place simultaneously as The Ann Arbor Black Film Festival, commemorating the memory of Lucille Porter. Porter founded the festival during the mid-1990s to honor Ann Arbor's Black residents and unite the community. Films showed from Friday, June 6, through Sunday, June 8, at The State Street Theater, The Ann Arbor District Library, and Third Mind Books, 118 E. Washington St. 

“The African American Downtown Festival is an incredible event that unites people from all walks of life, backgrounds, cultures, and nationalities for a day filled with joy, fantastic music, and valuable opportunities to support local businesses and entrepreneurs,” said event organizer Teesha Montague in an interview with MLive.