NORFOLK
Since launching 25 years ago, when just 400 people attended the first Afr’Am Fest at Town Point Park, the self-described “celebration of African-American culture” has grown into downtown’s second-largest party.
A s this festival and other s have flourished along the city’s riverfront, so have the surrounding downtown and the number of people who live there.
The two now appear to be at odds.
Organizers say the three-day music festival drew nearly 300,000 people over Memorial Day weekend. Only Harborfest, with 350,000 patrons last year, draws more.
Dozens of downtown residents complained to city leaders last weekend about noise, especially on Memorial Day . Some said they were offended by vulgar lyrics.
Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot, who attended a meeting Friday at which city officials discussed the festival, said it needs to become more family-friendly.
Mayor Paul Fraim suggest ed the festival move from its accustomed Memorial Day weekend to later in the summer.
Mark C. Madison, who heads the festival, said he will work to improve Afr’Am Fest but denies allegations that vulgar language was
pervasive. On Sunday, his group sponsored a church service at Town Point Park.
“We had thousands and thousands of folk down there worshipping,” he said.
There was an incident Monday in which one singer uttered a vulgar word, Madison said.
“Immediately, my emcee, production manager and I informed him that this is a family event, and that was not going to be tolerated,” he said.
Jack Kavanaugh, a retired admiral who heads the Freemason Civic League, said he was besieged with complaints about the noise and vulgar lyrics, mostly on Monday afternoon. He said 30 residents called or e-mailed him. He passed on those complaints to City Manager Regina V.K. Williams, who agreed to investigate and meet with Freemason residents.
Moving the festival to late June or early July would resolve much of the angst, Fraim said.
''This is the only festival that has a Monday as one of its days,” he said. “I have a lot of sympathy with the residents who live downtown. I understand the concerns of those who are bothered by the noise. I believe, especially during a time of war, that Memorial Day should be a quiet time downtown.”
That won’t be an issue next year because of the impending $11.5 million makeover of Town Point Park, which won’t be finished until after Memorial Day weekend.
Fraim wants the change to be permanent.
“I’m very supportive of the Afr’Am Fest,” he said. “But we all have to live and work here together.”
Most downtown residents are older and white and don’t have an affinity for the type of music at Afr’Am Fest, Councilman Paul R. Riddick said.
“If a type of music is not tasteful to you, it might seem to be annoying,” he said. “If it was Jimmy Buffett, they would probably embrace it.
“If you live downtown, you just have to realize that for four or five weekends per year, you’re going to be inconvenienced.”
Kavanaugh said this is not just a problem with Afr’Am Fest, that a recent event at Nauticus also resulted in numerous complaints about noise.
“You’ve got 3,000 people living downtown, whereas a few years ago you had hundreds,” he said. “The good news for Afr’Am Fest is that Monday was a beautiful day. It was also the bad news, because everyone had their windows open.”
Kavanaugh said as downtown becomes increasing more residential, that city officials need to be cognizant of noise levels at Town Point Park. When the wind blows from the South, he said, sounds bounce off the World Trade Center and carry into downtown’s residential areas.
That may not be the case next year. Karen Scherberger, who heads Festevents, said the renovation of Town Point Park will minimize the noise issue. Next year, a berm will deflect sound in the opposite direction, toward Waterside and into the Elizabeth River.
Madison said he will consider all suggestions from the city .
“We realize we’re getting bigger and bigger and may need to change things. We want to make sure we keep the event in downtown. We don’t want to alienate any part of the community.”
Fraim said he wants to move the festival in part to open up downtown to a city-sanctioned event honoring veterans on Memorial Day. He would like to do so at the battleship Wisconsin, but said the site is inaccessible during Afr’Am Fest.
Madison would not comment on the mayor’s suggestion, saying he had not discussed the issue with Fraim.
Afr’Am Fest is different from most downtown festivals in that it is not run by Festevents, the city-funded, private group that puts on most events held at Town Point Park.
It is sponsored by the Southeastern Virginia Arts Association, a private, non profit group that supports black arts and culture through shows, educational events and scholarships. It is the only large festival the group runs, and it relies mostly on volunteers for labor.
“We get 70 or 80 percent of our operating funds from the festival,” said Madison, whose group netted more than $200,000 from the event last year.
Afr’Am Fest has grown steadily over the years. It passed the 50,000 attendance mark about 15 years ago, when it was expanded from one day to two and then eventually three. Patrons are charged $10 per day to attend the music shows on three stages.
The city provided more than $100,000 worth of police protection, Madison said. H is group supplemented that by paying $50,000 for sheriff’s deputies and private security.
Burfoot said on Saturday night there were several fights and that the crowd poured out of Town Point Park in an unsafe manner. Fraim said police told him that the crowd “seemed to overwhelm the park,” but that it did not get out of control.
In all, there were 23 arrests over three days. Lt. Joseph P. Baron of the First Patrol division described the crowd as “very tame” in an internal e-mail the police released.
Madison said his group paid the city about $35,000 for use of city facilities.
Fraim said the event was a moneymaker for the city. P arking garages in downtown Norfolk, as well as hotels, restaurants and Waterside were full all weekend, he said.
Burfoot attended part of the festival and said it needs to be refined.
“On Saturday, they didn’t provide a family atmosphere,” he said. “There was no jazz, no music that an older person could sit back and relax to.”
He said the festival now is a glorified concert with the same kind of food that is available at all other festivals.
Burfoot said other ethnic festivals, such as the Norfolk Latino Music Festival on July 12 and an Asian celebration known as the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in late September, feature food, dance and artwork from those cultures.
“There was no ethnic food,” he said. “There are no African dancers out there. If I attend this festival, I should get a sense of culture, and that’s not happening.”
Burfoot, however, has no sympathy for downtown residents who complained about the noise, either.
“This is not downtown’s park,” he said. “It belongs to every citizen in the city.”
Staff writer Matthew Roy contributed to this report.
Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com
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You know out of 360 days of
You know out of 360 days of the year, 3 days is put aside for Afram fest. Afram has been around longer than most of the residents in the ghent area. Now I have read your comments, I don't understand how you can think this is not about race. Harbor fest is going out right now and I don't hear people saying that we should relocated that event. One user wants to know why Afram is called this when it doesn't relate to Africa. When was the last time you went to Africa? This event has celebrated African arts and music in the past. Afram is into celebrating not only African history, but African Amercian history. Hip hop is a part of African Amercian history. Not all of hip uses profanity. Most of you were not even there. When you walk around there is African art all around you. Furthermore, like the article said there was one bad word that was said and that was immediately addressed. Another user says that Afram is about a bunch of people acting stupid and playing loud music. Were you there? And what is so stupid about eating food and listening to gospel and R&B music. Then she says that she expects to hear tribal music. Do you think people in Africa don't listen to African American music
Let's Blame hip Hop
mikea93365, rachelh24239 and many others,
Please stop blaming Hip Hop. I can tell from your comments that you didn't attend the event. First of all there was ONE curse word that was used and it was done by an R&B artist. There was NO gangster rap or anything close to it. There were a few rappers in their 40's who are what we call Old School. Many people hear rap & instantly think bad. The other rappers at the event were GOSPEL artists. Most of the things going on at the festival did relate to African culture but all most can speak about is the featured artists.
Granby theater had nothing to do with the type of music, it was just poorly run events. Blame the promoter who didn't know what he was doing. There are 1000's of hip hop events every week that have no violence. Any event that is poorly planned can lead to violence.
Msbatten4883
There were dozens of European nationalities who came to the Americas as indentured servants, or to work in prison colonies, all against their will. There were also many others who came under military obligation during the dozens of wars fought with and amongst Europe during 17th-19th centuries. All people of "European" decent did not come to this country or these continents seeking a better life as romanticized. What happened to your great great great great grandfather is no reason for you to continue to use it as a means to divide. Being proud of ones self is internal, and a giant racially exclusive event should not be a requirement to do so.
Town Point Park will come a ting of the past
The City wants to spend $11.5 million on the 7 acres of Town Point Park. Why? Because their plan is to tare down Waterside and build another over priced condo. There goes the rest of the tourist dollars.
too many people:
Just too many people, in such a small area.Development on the waterfront. Has destroyed the space to have festivals. People enjoy them while you can. Because the room for festivals is disappearing fast. The land the waterside is sitting on, is prime real estate property. The city needs taxes, baby!!!!
Why is it called Afr'Am Fest?
Why is it called Afr'Am Fest if nothing there is related to Africia? Is it just a place for Black people to get together for the weekend? If so, it should be renaimed to something else. As a White person, I'm interested in the African culture, but not into the Black hip hop music which is totally different than African music, dance or anything else.
Notice
Hopefully you all have realized the pattern of the any topic that involves a perceived difference in people. This article talks about complaints that appear to have merit. Unless the neighbors became organized and conspired against the event; when over 30 people complain it would seem to have a valid basis. Bascially, some people took this as a chance to deride black people, and some people took it as a chance to cry racism. If we stick to the original story and ignore the posts, the only person who appeared racist is Riddick wo is a known race baiter or all around loudmouthed fool. The story is about neighbors reacting to poor language in their neighborhood. The people posting on this thread turned it into a racial issue. Your feelings and perceptions are actually changing the story and how this festival will be perceived in the future. Enough finger pointing. It happened. It's over. A couple of tweeks by organizers and it's onto next year.
NOISE PROBLEM NOT LIMITED TO DOWNTOWN
I see that the Al Sharpton wannabee, Paul Riddick, is up to his usually racially-charged remarks. Mr. Riddick is quoted as saying, “If a type of music is not tasteful to you, it might seem to be annoying. If it was Jimmy Buffett, they would probably embrace it. If you live downtown, you just have to realize that for four or five weekends per year, you’re going to be inconvenienced.”
Well, Mr. Riddick, we don't live in Downtown Norfolk, we live north of Princess Anne Rd, so we are a good distance from downtown. The loud music coming from Town Point Park was a disturbance even at this distance.
I don't care whether the music is rap, Jimmy Buffett, Mozart, or country-western, such a volume level is absolutely unnecessary. The people attending the festivals are all within 100 yards of the stage, the volume can be turned down so that they can still hear it without disturbing those who choose to not attend the festival.
I am a proud Norfolkian and, up until now, have encouraged friends to consider buying condos in this area. I am afraid that I can no longer do so and will, in fact, warn them about the noise hazard of the festivals at Town Point Park.
stop
i sit at a stop light and all a sudden i hear this spaceship come pulling up beside me and sounds seem to be emanating from every possible crack and portal from the vehicle next to me.why in the world do they think that the neighborhood wants to listen to their deafening outlandish noise.its fine that you don't mind being total deaf by the time you are 20 thats your god given right,but please have respect for those around you that don't care for the style or tone or sometimes vulgarity of the noise.i know my noise is bad enough and i wont share it with anyone outside my home and then you cant hear it from past my front door,out of respect for others.now another thing there is no such thing as an African American,i would much agree that if you were born in Africa and you became a citizen of America that you could use that title,but if you were born in America you are American with African decent .all cultures are in their own way beautiful,stick with what your event is meant to show and stop giving people reason to have complaints.
Music
Some individuals believe that if music and lyrics are not vulgar, it is not good noise. Our young kids do not need to hear this vulgarity in music. It sends a wrong message to our children. At these events, it needs to be known, up front, prior to the event, if vulgarity is spoken or sung, there will be a fine, or worse. Make the fine so high, that they can not afford to pay it, so they will think twice about doing it.
Re: Highly offended
First I would like to say that I am highly offended as an African-American. The comments that are posted prove that our hertiage is not accepted and probably never will be. Yes, a lot of the tradition is lost is due to my peers forgetting the struggles that our ancestors had to overcome. I read several entries that stated that we are Americans and the need to become Americanize, but I want to remind everyone that our ancestors entered the U.S. as slaves. The Scottish and other immigrants chose to migrate for various reasons and slavery was not one of them. When our ancestors departed we had no choice but to leave our African history and traditions. We did not even had documentation on our names, families, or other background information.
I think other races forget that we are enslaved and forced to come to a country that beat, robbed and de-humanized us. It bothers me because there is one weekend where we can walk the streets and be proud of who we are and where we came from and with that there are issues. But of course, there are issues. Whenever a group of Blacks gather, there is expected to be violence, profanity and inappropriateness. With that, displays how every
Music
Hi there. We are all AMERICAN. I have friends from Africa, whom are wthite, but they are not African Americans, or are they???? They aren't. If you are a citizen of this wonderful country of ours, you are an AMERICAN. It's a way to segregate yourselves, from others.
Have you ever gone up to a stoplight, and stopped, and heard the bass coming from another car, about 5 away from you. I can't stand it. I used to work at a convenience store, and people would shut the engine off of their car, and keep the "noise", playing in their cars. All you can here or feel is the bass. The lyrics, that come with this "noise" is very offensive, and should not have to be heard by individuals who don't want to hear it. Some individuals spend alot of money on speakers and stereo equipment in their cars, to make themselves 'look' good in the eyes of others. I say, 'if you have to 'prove' yourself to others, you have problems, but I am not a psychiatrist, but I do think Record Labels, who produce this 'noise', has issues. This is the noise and vulgarity that is a problem.
There will never by a true
There will never by a true discussion of race until leaders like Mr. Riddick stand up and expect people to act in a civic manner. He needs to stop making excuses for bad behavior. The Jimmy Buffet comment, while it may be true, doesn't make it right. Bad behavior is bad behavior
Racism and more - ??
First, Most of the people are not AFRICAN American, they are AMERICAN! Get off of this hyphenated crud, it's stupid and inconsiderate to all.
Second, If the language is going to be vulger, shut it down. Vulgarity is not necessary for an enjoyable time. It's low class, and thug like.
Last, Don't infer anything about me, I am a second generation American, whose grandparents LEGALLY came to the United States and became citizens. I never once heard them call themselves, russian-americans, or polish-german-americans. It's ridiculuous. If you wish to be a hyphenated American, hyphenate yourself somewhere else.
Downtown condos offer one additional benefit...
Well,well,I'm glad to see the chickens have come home to roost for all the yuppies who bought overpriced condos in downtown Norfolk !! They wanted the convenience of living downtown with the "fabulous.dahling" view of the river ! They wanted the view of the river from their expensive condos,then they should be prepared to live with the onsequences of those who can't afford to live downtown but want to enjoy the river and the nightlife anyway. I say bring on more events like this ! It keeps these bad characters out of my burbs !
I understand that people in
I understand that people in Africa sold their neighbors into slavery for money, and that now the ability to follow their genealogy is lost. From another perspective, who knows if written record is kept over there. I have no idea if I could trace mine, I've never tried. I could look through history and see if anyone related to me did anything important and dream about that (I don't think so), OR, I could do cool stuff and hopefully make a change myself. I'd rather do cool things myself, and who knows maybe someday I'll score my own page in wikipedia for some project that does good. And from what I know the noise happened right in the middle of the day, NOT at night. "I don't mean to offend other citizens, but I crank my volume WAY past 10." -- LL Cool J / Radio.
minorities
The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.
Ok now
I understand African American celebrating but these people aren't celebrating this they are just playing loud music and acting stupid. I mean is this music and acting this way what African Americans are all about. I would hope not. I would hope part of your heritage would be family. Oh but than again you are supposed to be celebrating your heritage? which would be your past, family where you came from? Well is this loud music and acting like trash part of that. I would expect to hear tribal music and they didn't talk trash in Africa, i wouldn't think. No one would be offended if tribal music was being played. If you asked (actually they have been) an Indian to celebrate their heritage you would see tepees and dancing around fires and stuff from their past, right. Well there are things going on in Africa now and in history why aren't you doing that....? why are you celebrating what is going on NOW! Celebrate the past...
Afram Fest
First, at what time did the music end? If it ended within noise restrictions what's the issue? Most of the people living downtown moved there knowing there were many festivals that are part of the economic revival. As stated before if you live in an urban center you have to expect urban noise. Imagine complaints like this in NY, LA, Atlanta, etc.
Ethan, most African American ancestors were denied their culture and kidnapped and enslaved, there was no choice for them to come to this country. After the Civil War most African Americans were denied full citizenship by more southern bigotry and ignorance. You know where your people came from. How many African Americans do? Africa is a big continent, as is Europe, but at last you know the specific area your ancestors inhabited.
Hah, I'm a bigot?
Hah, I'm a bigot because I think people born in America should represent America, versus clinging to some ancestry which we weren't a part of? I just don't get it. People's last name is Scottish, but were born and raised in America clinging to kilts, bagpipes and those funky (but good) cookies. Nothing wrong with investigating ones heritage, or dressing up for a party or to act in a play. I mean it's a free country, and I know lots of people come to school here then bolt back to other countries. And when I was really really young I actually did have a confederate flag, because it matched the dukes of hazard car and I thought it was cooler than the normal flag because the stars were bigger. Hooray for being 5 years old!
RE: No Group
Starting in 1983 when Waterside opened, Harborfest and even 4th of July saw crowds that exceded 500K and the daily tally was over 1 million people had come to those events. There were times when the city was totally out of control and the number of drunks wandering the streets would blow your mind. They were rude, insulting, and out of control themselves. However, there were so many wondeful people of all races that thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and it was a lot of fun inspite of the minor interuptions. For a number of years after '83 Harborfest ruled as events go in Norfolk. People were bused in from everywhere. I worked those events for a number of years and I can say first hand we did not have any racial problems. Why are we having racial problems now?
SImple as Black and White
This country has made tremendous progress in the last 40 years in the effort to erase racial differences. But we still have a long way to go.
It's not a matter of prejudice, but it is a matter of there being BIG differences between what blacks and whites want, expect, and tolerate.
Black culture and white culture are still extremely different. That's not a judgment on who's right or wrong, just an honest look at two cultures that exist side by side, but usually have as little interaction as possible (which seems to be the way BOTH SIDES like it)
And, unfortunately, we have seen a real decline in our tolerance as a nation for anything that we consider different than what we like or expect. There has to be a middle area, where we can all get along, and agree to disagree on some things. "All or nothing" thinking, which is so strong today, will accomplish just that---nothing.
re: Riddick
It is time that Riddick step aside and away from his continued racist comments.
No group should be allowed
No group should be allowed to have 300K people downtown over at any time. Too many, too much. This argument also clearly illustrates our cultural divide...but wait - Mr. Obama and Wright are going to fix that.
Steven
"Be a responsible citizen, not a lamb. I hope you are never a victim of a violent crime and your loved one has to report it because you were killed."
I have been the victim of a serious crime, obviously not killed. I still don't want a gun, but please know I'm not trying to take yours away. I just do not want to see people walking around at any event with guns on their hips like the man from Yorktown did last year at Harborfest, and it was his legal right to do so. Peace!
Also
this same kind of brouhaha is what embroiled the Granby Theater, booking hip hop. Does anyone see a thread here? Granby+hip hop+gun=turmoil.
Af'Ram+hip hop+gun=turmoil. I don't believe hip hop is what Af'Ram is all about. What would Malcolm X or Dr. King have to say about it? Malcolm X was killed because he came to talk about unity and well.... we know why Dr. King was killed.
RE: Somewhat disturbing
"Your("Sorry") post makes no sense whatsoever. You claim that there were more illegal guns there than legal ones at that event. Can you prove that? Where do you get your facts and figures? You seem to contradict your own statements."
Please go back and read my comment again and this time check out the "DUH". I was being sarcastic sorry it didn't come out the way it was meant.
To stevenm:
You are correct, people need to stand up for themselves.
Col. Dave Grossman wrote: There are 3 types of beings here. First, there are wolves. These are the ones that prey on others.
Then, there are sheep. The vast majority of people are sheep. They huddle together, and hope for the best. They hope their numbers will keep the wolves at bay, but unfortunately, that doesn't happen a lot. Then, when something does happen, they all bleat in unison.
Then, there are the sheepdogs. The sheep don't like the sheepdogs. The sheepdogs make them stay in line, to avoid danger to themselves. The sheepdog looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed.
Don't be a sheep...be a sheepdog.
Why
isn't this event sponsored by Festevents?
Ummm
I was present for Greek Fest 1989. I was working a P/T job at the ocean front. Holy Cow! I was glad to go home when ordered to do so by the State Police. With that said, crowds, drugs and alcohol do not mix.
The truth of the matter is a "few people" always cause alot of problems for the masses who are trying to enjoy any festival, event, game or party. Ask yourself this question: have you ever been at a social event and when that one person shows up you say in your head he/she is going to cause trouble. I willing to bet each of you have an Uncle Larry in your family who does not get invited to Thanksgiving dinner because he causes problems.
If I read the article right the city stated they had 30 complaints, out of how many that attended the festival?