Martin Luther King Jr. Day is coming around soon with events all over Wisconsin. Celebrations span days before and after with something happening nearly all hours of the day.
Check out the list of MLK Day events to help plan your celebrations in Madison.
MLK Community Choir
The MLK Community Choir is looking for community members to join up. No tryouts are required. The choir will meet on Jan. 14 at 6:30 p.m. and Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 2019 Fisher St to practice. The MLK Community Choir will perform at this year’s annual City/County MLK Day Observance.
35th Annual MLK Free Community Dinner
Hosted by the King Coalition, the Free Community Dinner is a buffet style celebration of Dr. King’s spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood. The menu will have baked and fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, mac and cheese, biscuits, sweet potato pie and beverages.
It is free to attend with no registration required. The MLK Free Community Dinner will be held at UW Gordon Dining & Event Center, 770 W Dayton St., from 4:30-7 p.m. on Jan. 17.
“I Have a Dream” Scholarship Ball
Also known as the “Dream Ball”, Women in Focus hosts the annual event to raise scholarship funds to help “Actualize the Dream.” Funds raised go towards high school seniors and adults returning to post-high school education to combat barriers. The Dream Ball will feature dinner, and a program from Women in Focus Scholar Taylor Kilgore, dancing and an auction.
The Dream Ball will be held on Jan. 18 from 6-11 p.m. at the Wisconsin Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave. Tickets are currently on sale.
MLK Outstanding Young Person Breakfast
Hundreds of students, teachers, administrators and community members will gather at Edgewood High School to attend the 41st annual MLK Outstanding Youth Recognition Breakfast, hosted by Urban League of Greater Madison, to honor outstanding students from throughout the Madison area. The Urban League takes time to recognize the achievements of almost 300 middle and high school students who excel in school and their communities in honor of the spirit of Dr. King with a large community breakfast.
(Photo by David Dahmer)
Every year at this annual event, Outstanding Young Persons Awards are presented to middle and high school students of color who exemplify a commitment to academics, extra-curricular activities, and volunteerism. The MLK Outstanding Young Person Breakfast will be held on Jan. 19 from 7:30-10 a.m. at Edgewood High School, 2219 Monroe St. Tickets are currently on sale for $10.
MLK Ecumenical Service
The King Coalition brings faith and community together with its annual MLK Ecumenical Service. The service cycles around churches in Madison to honor Dr. King’s dream of social justice and equality. It boasts a large gathering of community members from diverse religious traditions, socioeconomic statuses, ethnicities and political beliefs to celebrate in brotherhood. Speakers are still being worked out.
The service will be held at S.S. Morris AME Church, 3511 Milwaukee St., on Jan 19 from 4:30-6 p.m. It is free to attend; no registration is required.
Sherman Church MLK: Jesus’ Dream worship
MLK Youth Call to Service
This joint event between the King Coalition, Urban League, City of Madison, Dane County and many others encourages youth to serve their communities projects. The Youth Call to Service is filled with workshops throughout the afternoon as youth work together to create a service project.
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
The day starts at 12 with lunch and opening remarks at 12:30 p.m. Workshops and planning spans from 1:15-4:35 p.m.
MLK Youth Call to Service will be held at Madison Central Library, 201 W. Mifflin St., on Jan. 20 from 12-5 p.m. Registration is required.
40th Annual City of Madison & Dane County MLK Day Observance
The crowning event in Madison in observance of MLK day will welcome Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the first female Bishop of the AME Church, as the keynote speaker. Later, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Executive Melissa Agard will present the MLK Humanitarian Awards. The MLK Community Choir will perform followed by a call to action for community members to serve in honor of Dr. King’s legacy.
The MLK Day Observance will be held at the Overture Center Capitol Theater, 201 State St., on Jan. 20 from 5-8 p.m. It is free to attend and no registration is required.
UW-Madison MLK Symposium 2025
A little over a week after MLK Day, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will hold its annual MLK Symposium. The event celebrates the legacy of Dr. King with this year’s speaker — Donzaleigh Abernathy, actress, author and activist — who will foster through-provoking discussions on the teachings of MLK. Abernathy is the youngest daughter of the American Civil Rights Movement co-founder Rev. Ralph Abernathy and the goddaughter of MLK Jr.
The Symposium will also feature UW-Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives’ first artist-in-residence for 2025 as part of its Hip-Hop Arts Residency Program.
The MLK Symposium will be held Jan. 28 at Shannon Hall in Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St. Tickets are currently on sale. Free tickets will be available in January with details yet to come.
