The weekend?s African American Heritage Festival got mixed reviews, with many vendors and visitors complaining that the event was too commercial and didn?t offer enough authentic culture.
The event drew large crowds despite temperatures in the low 90s. But many people attending said they wished the merchandise and food were more representative of black culture.
Steffanie Williams, 35, of Baltimore County, who was enjoying the festival Sunday at Camden Yards from under a tree to beat the heat, said that she liked the community-related booths, but that the culture at the festival was disappointing.
“The location is better here. The music is good and the city does a good job on crowd control, but it is very commercial,” Williams said. “[The organizers] should steer away from Chinese food,” she said.
She said that the information she received from the booths was very informative, but that the vendors? merchandise did not depict African-American culture.
Julian Madyun, 58, of Atlanta, ran a booth that offered black historical art, posters and pictures but he said the rest of the festival was missing the right kind of culture.
“It needs to be more African-American,” rather than just African, he said. “It needs to be more balanced,” he said, as he pointed to his pictures of Angela Davis and Martin Luther King Jr.
But other vendors thought they were doing a good job of providing educational materials.
“In general, vendors represent all aspects of African-American history. We have a lot of information and a lot of people have questions,” said Donnell Heard, 37, of the Community Mediation Program, which promotes the use of nonviolent problem-solving strategies.
Samantha Keeton, who lives in Anne Arundel County and was making the rounds with her two children, also had no complaints. She called the festival “an opportunity for African-American businesses to showcase work from our own race.”
Yet, a vendor selling African jewelry and goods said the festival was not as good as it could be. The Senegal native, who identified herself as Mama Nabou, said that for a free festival, the $1,200 she paid to rent her booth was too high. “What the festival should have done is decreased the price,” she said.
“You make it free for the people. We have a big crowd, but people don?t have money anymore,” and vendors end up losing money and not wanting to return, she said.
Associated Black Charities, which organized the festival, could not be reached Sunday for comment.
