A Decatur activist group will hold the city’s first Pan African Festival this weekend.

From 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, the free event will highlight and celebrate culture rooted in people of African descent. The event will be hosted by the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, a local activist organization.

“Beacon Hill’s Pan African festival will be a celebration of the African diaspora and the economic achievements of its people uplifting Black entrepreneurs and small business owners while also featuring Black-led organizations organizing in the fight for liberation,” Fonta High, Beacon Hill co-chair, said in a news release.

Celebrating Innovation, Culture and Economic Empowerment. Attend Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights' first annual Pan African Festival in Decatur Square from 3-8pm, Saturday, August 28.

Posted by Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights on Friday, August 6, 2021

The event will take place in Decatur Square, where a Confederate Obelisk stood for more than a century. The city took down the monument last summer amid the nationwide protests against racism and police brutality following George Floyd’s killing. A marker commemorating the arrest and release of Martin Luther King Jr. has since been erected in Decatur Square.

“A town square where a confederate monument once stood and the (Ku Klux) Klan would gather will be the site of our first ever Pan African Festival,” Mawulli Davis, an attorney and Beacon Hill co-chair, said in the release. “This will be a space of culture, love, and healing.”

The Pan African Festival will include musical performances by Mausiki Scales & The Common Ground Collective along with drumming, songs and dance by Giwayen Mata. Young Creators of the Black Man Lab will perform hip-hop and spoken word during the event, which will also feature food vendors, artists and speakers.

More information on the festival is available at beaconhillblackalliance.org.

About the Author

Featured

Braves first baseman Matt Olson (left) is greeted by Ronald Acuña Jr. after batting during the MLB Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star Game festivities on Monday, July 14, 2025, at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC