BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Spike Lee's annual Michael Jackson birthday celebration will return this month after a three-year hiatus, the director announced on Twitter Monday.
"Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson," which Lee founded in 2009 and ran for two years before being shut down by Hurricane Irene, will be held at Bed-Stuy's Restoration Plaza at 1368 Fulton St. on Aug. 24.
Fans can celebrate the "King of Pop's" music and legacy while singing and dancing to the artist's hits, spun by DJ Spinna.
The "Do the Right Thing" director teased the announcement last week, tweeting out photos from previous celebrations. On Sunday, Lee posted a photo of himself standing on stage in front of the crowd at the 2009 event.
"Party people it's almost that time," the photo's caption read.
Lee revealed a poster for the celebration on Monday.
In previous years, celebrities like Tracy Morgan and Snoop Dogg dropped in to celebrate the singer's life as crowds flocked to Brooklyn's Prospect Park in 2009 and 2010.
But Lee canceled the 2011 event thanks to Hurricane Irene, followed by the 2012 festival being canceled due to unknown reasons. There was no festival planned for 2013, which would have been Jackson's 55th birthday.
This year, fans can celebrate the artist's 56th birthday five days early in Bed-Stuy, where Lee shot films including "Crooklyn" and "Do the Right Thing" and where, earlier this year, the director celebrated the 25th anniversary of the latter movie with a block party on the street it was filmed.
Representatives from the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, which operates Restoration Plaza, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Jackson was found dead in a rented Los Angeles home on June of 2009 at the age of 50. Two years later, Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, due in part to the number of drugs prescribed and administered to the singer in his final days.
Murray was released from prison last year.
