The fifth annual Strange Fruit Festival returns to Greensboro this weekend. It’s a celebration of Black cultural music in the heart of downtown. Founder Cyril Howell spoke with WFDD’s David Ford.
Interview highlights
On the festival's early beginnings:
"I am a musician myself and an artist, I guess you could say, struggling artist in the city of Greensboro, but I got to travel, see other bands, go to other festivals in other cities outside of the state, and just was very inspired by some of the things that I saw. And whenever I came back, I was like, 'man, is there a way for me to do something like this here?' And I put things in motion and connected with some of the organizations around the area, and decided that I want to create opportunities of value, specifically for Black musicians, and to preserve Black musical culture in our city."
On creating space to honor the legacy of Strange Fruit:
"Billie Holiday and Nina Simone famously sang the song in protest to things that were going on in America at the time. And sometimes they would go to these clubs or venues that they didn't want them to play there, and if they did, 'Hey, don't sing that song. Don't do this. Don't do that,' you know. So that's kind of the gist of making sure that that opportunity exists and that it still exists, and that we're still mindful of the way we're presenting."
On the festival vibe:
"We always have LeBauer Park, which is right in the heart of downtown. Very family-friendly, a lot of vendors, food trucks there. So it's live all day on that Saturday at the park. As well this year, though, we'll have music throughout downtown, so you can literally walk throughout downtown from Friday through Sunday and catch all Black cultural music downtown."