Norfolk re-examining Afr'Am Fest after residents' complaints

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