Sophia Hernandez, 9, right, looks up at her mother, Kenia Sanchez, as Hernandez and neighbor Leo Vasquez, 9, paint small individual canvases at the Englewood Music Festival at 63rd Street and Halsted on Sept. 17, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Dreadlocks of varying lengths, frosted-haired gentlemen with silver and gold chains, and juicy curls in every color from marigold to jet black bobbed in the crowd at the second annual Englewood Music Festival on Saturday. The festival at 63rd and Halsted Streets was organized by the office of 16th Ward Alderman Stephanie Coleman and welcomed Chicagoland natives to a safe and family-friendly celebration of intergenerational connection and community investment.
The festival brought in an estimated 3,000 visitors. Music performers included the neo-soul duo Kindred the Family Soul and rappers Katie Got Bandz and Juvenile. Not only were there more people than at last year’s event but there were more vendors and enough space for all generations to feel welcomed.
“It’s going to be a safe day so the impact will be family, unity, and of course arts, music, and culture,” Coleman said. “Today’s intergenerational events are bringing families and generations together. Today is resilience.”
Visitors of all ages found shade from the sun under trees in the middle of South Halsted. Older patrons reclined under a hot pink tent from the 16th Ward. The wind picked up around 2 p.m. and glazed a cool breeze over the festival.
On the sidewalk near Kennedy-King College, families sat on concrete ledges and lined up lawn chairs. People sipped drinks and ate chicken dinners at the Harold’s Chicken food truck.
“I like how intimate it is because it’s similar to the other festivals that are at Grant Park and other areas of Chicago,” West Englewood resident Olivia Weathers said. “Festivals like this bring pride to the community and I haven’t heard any riff-raff. Last year when I went, there was no violence and there haven’t been any incidents today.”
Chicago’s Haire’s Gulf Shrimp sold flakey fried shrimp and gave free water to kids. We Shave What You Crave provided mounds of ice in styrofoam cups, letting customers mix their syrup.
Fry oil stood in lines with visitors at the Taquizas A Domicilio food truck as tiger’s blood, green apple, and blue raspberry syrups stained the street facing the sound stage.
The Black McDonald’s Operators Association tent was near Coleman’s tent. Around $2,500 worth of prepackaged crayons, pencils, pens, and notebooks were stacked on the tent’s display table ready for the taking. A spokesperson for BMOA said that the student care packages intend to fulfill the needs of school-age children who may not have academic resources.
In the Kennedy-King College parking lot, there was a children’s section. Far back in the lot, the Englewood Arts Collective (EAC) had its own DJ playing kid-friendly music and an MC selling raffle tickets for tote bags. Inside the tote bags were coloring books, two EAC T-shirts and coupons to the South loop Chick-Fil-A.
Children and parents wore flowing yellow aprons and made a community mural with acrylic paints. There was also a kid’s carnival with bungee jumps and an inflatable bouncing tent with obstacles. Health resources such as Cook County Health, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and Howard Brown Health had stations nearby.
At the main entrance, Grow Greater Englewood handed out bags of free produce and served fresh food options for patrons who may have wanted fruit instead of festival food.
“We have herbs and vegetables from our Sisters In the Village group, which is a Black woman-led farm on the South Side of Chicago, and bags of groceries from our lovely partners at Urban Growers Collective,” said George Mikell, the Grow Greater Englewood’s farmer’s market manager. “Being here is about being connected with the community.”
Music classics like “Before I Let Go” by Frankie Beverly and Maze, and “Candy” by Cameo played before Kindred the Family Soul arrived in the late afternoon. The Green Line train toward Harlem backdropped the center stage when artists started performing.
When the street lights came on, Katie Got Bandz’s music was shaking the asphalt near the stage and visitors danced in sync. Juvenile was the last guest performer whose songs rang through the Englewood square shopping center through sunset.
“Community events are the best place to put on good quality entertainment and bring the people like vendors, constituents, dignitaries, and everybody together,” Kindred the Family Soul’s Fatin Dantzler said. “It all feeds off each other. So it’s always a good thing.”
Josh Burrell is a freelance writer.