Harlem Cultural Festival
Concerts, Music Festivals
The Harlem Cultural Festival was a series of events, primarily music concerts, held annually in Harlem, New York City, between 1967 and 1969. The Festival celebrated soul, jazz and gospel, along with other forms of Black music and culture, while promoting Black pride. The most successful series of concerts took place in 1969, becoming known informally as Black Woodstock, and is documented in the 2021 film Summer of Soul.
Performers during the 1969 edition of the Harlem Cultural Festival included: The Fifth Dimension, Abbey Lincoln, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, George Kirby, Olatunji, Max Roach, Mahalia Jackson, The Staples Singers, Herman Stevens and the Voices of Faith, Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Operation Breakfast Band, Stevie Wonder, David Ruffin, Chuck Jackson, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Lou Parks Dancers, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto, Cal Trader, Herbie Mann, Harlem Festival Calypso Band, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Hugh Masakela, Harlem Festival Jazz Band, Miss Harlem Pageant, La Rocque Bey and Co., and Listen to My Brothers.