Next Level Park St. Music & Community Fest will take place Saturday, Aug. 6, at The Labor Temple on Madison’s south side and will feature a variety of diverse musical artists including Kinfolk, Collage & Company, Orquesta Salsoul De Mad, Na3 Superstar, and Dj Ace.
Park Street Music Fest originated in 2017 as a free one-day outdoor live music event designed to bring people together who are from a cross-section of music genres featuring local and regional artists.
“We’re going to have the great music like we always do, but we’re also going to include services and resources that the community can benefit from,” Next Level Park Street Music Fest organizer Clyde Gaines tells Madison365.
Gaines says that they are looking forward to once again hosting a 5K Walk/Run that is geared toward African American males, but is open to everybody.
“We’re targeting African American males as a way for them to be aware and to be more actively involved in their health care, exercising and just overall general health,” Gaines says. “And that’s a starting point. We want to use it as a catalyst for for African American males to to become more involved in monitoring and taking care of their personal health and well being.
“The 5K walk is also a chance to generate some brotherhood and camaraderie,” he adds.
Jordan Sallis, success coach for the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid, will give the keynote address for the event at Madison College South at 11 a.m.
“That address will we’ll be engaging us this around the conversation of interaction of Black males with one another and ways that we kind of see each other and ways that we can better understand each other,” Gaines says.
Park St Music & Community Fest will host a free COVID vaccination clinic inside the grounds at the Labor Temple from 3-5 p.m. “People will be able to get a free gift card with their vaccination,” Gaines says.
There will be food trucks and retail vendors at the event while the musical artists are performing from 3-8 p.m.
“We have a great music lineup there, as you can see,” Gaines says. “We’ve always had other components to this event besides the music but every year we’ve added something. I think it’s great for people to be able to access all of these great community resources at this event and to be able to share information that may be important to people, especially communities of color.
‘It’s a chance for family and friends to get together and to be in a fun and positive environment,” Gaines adds.
Madison’s south side is going through a revitalization right now and Gaines wants his Park Street Music Fest to be a longtime staple in that community.
“Madison’s south side continues to grow and to develop and to blossom and we really want this Park St. Music Fest to be a standard staple in the community over there,” Gaines says. “And we want it to grow. We want people to really get behind it and come support it. It’s a great thing. It’s a great outing for people who have never been there. It is a fun time.”
