Watts Festival Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Celebrating its 30th year of showcasing African American contributions to culture, arts and sports, the Watts Summer Festival opened Wednesday at the main quad of Markham Middle School.

The first festival was a tribute to the 34 people who died in the 1965 civil disturbances in Watts and has since become a tradition in the community.

Past festivals have attracted tens of thousands of people, as well as major African American figures as parade grand marshals, such as Bill Cosby and Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Comedian Sinbad has been selected this year’s grand marshal. The parade is scheduled Saturday at 10 a.m. and will start at 103rd Street and Central Avenue and conclude at the school, 104th Street and Compton.

Other celebrity guests are singer Stevie Wonder, 1984 Olympic gold medalist Valerie Brisco-Hooks and actor Roger Mosley.

Wonder is scheduled to perform Sunday along with the Watts Prophets, a jazz group that met at the Watts Writers Workshop in the wake of the Watts riots.

The five-day festival will feature carnival rides, community forums, a parade, fashion show, art exhibit, a custom bike, car and van show, and an independent film festival, which will include a screening of “Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored” directed by Tim Reid.

Organizers expect 40,000 to 50,000 to attend.

The festival runs through Sunday and is open daily from 1 to 8 p.m.

Information: (213) 789-7304.