Millennials, prepare your knees: Juvenile and Patti LaBelle are the headliners for this year’s AFRAM festival, taking place June 21 and June 22 at Druid Hill Park, Mayor Brandon Scott announced Tuesday afternoon.
Other announced performers include the rapper Saweetie, R&B singer Teedra Moses, “One Thing” singer Amerie and Vedo, who appeared on Season 4 of “The Voice.”
The free two-day festival, which started in 1976 and occurs on Juneteenth weekend, draws more than 100,000 attendees each year, according to AFRAM’s website. Produced by the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, the family-friendly fair celebrates Black culture with art, food, fashion and other vendors.
Scott said AFRAM is one of the largest festivals on the East Coast to celebrate Black culture.
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“We will continue having AFRAM, and because of the state of the world we’ll probably be even more loud and Blacker to remind everybody that no matter how hard they try to erase us from the history books, they can’t erase us,” Scott said during the press conference at City Hall.
The second event in Baltimore’s festival season, AFRAM follows Artscape on May 24-25. After AFRAM are the Baltimore Caribbean Festival on July 12-13 and Charm City Live on Sept. 20.
The 49th annual AFRAM, scheduled for noon to 9 p.m. each day, is accepting applications for its community row, where nonprofit organizations, community associations, religious groups and city or state agencies can set up informational booths during the festival.
Last year’s AFRAM performers included Busta Rhymes, Mya, Big Daddy Kane and Morris Day and the Time.
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