Southside Festival Series
Building a Community! Creating a Legacy!
The History of #SouthsideSummerFest
Southside Festival Series began as a vision of H.A.P.E. (Helping All People Excel) in 2008 when they hosted the Southside Fall Festival at the King Center, bringing social service organizations, resource organizations and local small businesses together to provide direct access of their services to Southside residents. That vision was began by HAPE Founder & CEO Debra Green, and after 10 years Hakim vrought it back to life with the Elnora Moorman Plaza area being cleared of trees and bushes, allowing a clearer vision of the space to be used to bring the Southside community together in celebration of Culture and Community.
In 2019 Hakim Crampton, a former Program Manager of H.A.P.E. partnered with JCAC (Jackson Citizens Advisory Council) to create a Southside Mural commemorating great leaders and community life that would be featured along the MLK Equality Trail at MLK Blvd and Damon Street. To commemorate the completion of the Southside Mural and its public display, a planning team was formed to envision the Southside Summer Fest along the MLK Equality Trail southwest of Elnora Moorman Plaza. The Southside Festival Planning Team then followed up in 2020 with the continuation of Southside Summer Fest to be held annually each year along the MLK Equality Trail between MLK Blvd at Damon street and Milwaukee and Stanley Streets with Elnora Moorman Plaza as the Center of the Festival. Southside Fest then consisted of 4 monthly Festivals focusing on the celebration of Black Arts (May), of Juneteeth's Freedom Fest (June), of the health and safety of community through Heal The Hood Fest (July), and of bringing new and small entrepreneurs together for an Emerging Entrepreneurs Business Expo (Aug). In 2021 we added Kwanzaa to the Series and total of 6 events now consists of the Southside Festival Series. In 2024 we will cobine our 4 monthly Summer fests into a single 3 day weekend Festival called Southside Freedom Fest. Join us each year as we continue to grow and serve the Jackson community.
