Annual WV Black Heritage Festival

Category: Entertainment

Review: September 11,12,13 2009. Email:Email@WVBlackHeritageFestival.com

Description: 19th Annual WV Black Heritage Festival

For a complete listing of West Virginia Fairs & Festivals http://wvfairsandfestivals.org/


What began as a meeting in the spring of 1990 by the Kelly Miller Alumni Association to discuss fundraising ideas has evolved into what is known today as the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival. The first celebrations held by the African-American community in Clarksburg were commemorations of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abrahm Lincoln. Appropriately called an Emancipation Proclamation Celebration", the first official event was held on September 22, 1990 on E.B. Saunders Way (formerly known as Water Street) in Clarksburg, WV with city officials in attendance for the reading of the Proclamation.
The weekend celebration was so popular; it's attendance exceeded the expectations of the association. Local social clubs and community organizations served as vendors in the early years of the event. In 1995, the celebration became too large for the Kelly Miller Alumni Association, thus the next step in the evolution of the festival began.