NORTH LAWNDALE — The second annual North Lawndale Arts and Culture Festival will be Friday through Sunday in Douglas Park.
The free festival is organized by the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council. The weekend consists of live music, local artists, an education fair and kids activities. The weekend will be capped off by a screening of the movie, "Hidden Figures."
The council is a collective of community-based organizations, business owners, elected officials and others active in the neighborhood. The council promotes community development, and one of its efforts was through the community planning conference in June.
The second annual Arts and Culture Festival will feature clothing, jewelry, and art by local businesses. Food will be offered for sale.
"We're changing it from last year by making it a weekend program. So instead of just one day with vendors, we have a lineup of three days of cultural and arts activities," said Sheila McNary, one of the organizers for the event.
The weekend kicks off with the Ailey Camp recital at the Collins Academy High School. There are two performances Friday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Arts Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Douglas Park Cultural Center. The day will consist of music and entertainment with booths set up for artists and designers.
"We have a lot of local businesses lined up to come. Students from the organization Music in Urban Schools Inspiring Change will be performing as well as drummers from the Celestial Ministry. We also have jazz artist Ronnie G coming who will be playing the saxophone," McNary said.
A variety of local jewelry businesses will be attending the festival on Saturday. [Alysia Slusser]
The second day features an education fair with STEAM/STEM organizations targeting programs towards children in Lawndale. The School of the Art Institute in Chicago will have activities to teach students about art and education. The fair will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
"Organizations in the area will be bringing robots and we are trying to capture everything included in STEAM/STEM," McNary said.
The screening of "Hidden Figures" is set to start at dusk Sunday.
The educational fair and the movie screening will be at Douglas Park Track and Football field, 1900 S. Albany Ave.
