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Michael Jackson Birthday Celebrations Kick Off Thursday in Gary
August 27, 2014 5:03PM
The Roosevelt Dance Team performs at the Michael Jackson birthday celebration in Gary on Aug. 29, 2013.
| Jim Karczewski\For Sun-Times Media
ARTICLE EXTRAS
View GalleryUpdated:
Celebrations for Michael Jackson’s birthday have grown from a block party around his boyhood home to a three-day festival set to start Thursday in what local officials and event promoters hope will become an annual affair.
The Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts focuses not only on the the famous musician, but also on encouraging new artists.
“(We want to) let them know it’s a good thing to develop the arts,” Karvin Johnson, one of the event’s promoters, said. “Develop your creativity.”
Previous events celebrating Jackson’s birthday on Aug. 29 have centered around his boyhood home at 2300 Jackson St. This year’s events — the fifth since he died in 2009 — have grown to encompass the nearby Roosevelt High School campus and will feature local and new artists.
Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, spearheaded the event, Johnson said, and she and other family members, including Michael Jackson’s children, will attend.
“She wants to set something in place that will be something to commemorate and celebrate Michael’s legacy,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he expects about 5,000 people a day at the festival, including people from Brazil, Canada and China.
The festival kicks off Thursday with an orchestra and choir made up of Gary students singing and playing a medley of Michael Jackson songs. The Gary Community School Corp. held an audition earlier this summer for the lead singer.
“Michael Jackson has always been one of the most beloved if not most beloved artists in R&B history,” Charmella Greer, spokeswoman for the school district, said. “Students, whether young or older, it doesn’t matter, they’re excited about (the festival).”
The musical performance will be followed by a special ceremony at Roosevelt High School Thursday afternoon, which will include remarks by local officials.
Other highlights include a stage that will be next to the former Jackson home for new and emerging artists, a chance to learn record scratching and to play on drums, and a trivia competition that will, of course, focus on the Jackson family. Saturday will include a car show and a dance competition that will be judged by Michael Jackson’s children, Johnson said.
The festival will conclude Saturday night with a live musical performance by the band Mindless Behavior and fireworks.
“The main thing is to encourage kids that you can express yourself through art,” Johnson said.
Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said she sees the festival as a key piece to a week of events in Gary, including the Fuller Center Build, a service project that will build four homes in the area of the Jackson family’s former home.
“I think it will be a very positive even,” Freeman-Wilson said. “...I think it provides a new look, a positive look (of Gary).”
Both Freeman-Wilson and Johnson said they would like to see this event continue and grow each year. Johnson said the event promoters had looked at previous Jackson celebrations to see what worked and what didn’t to form this year’s plans and hope to add even more events in coming years, including possibly a circus.
Another event promoter, Sharon Chamber, a Gary businesswoman who became involved after the Jackson family contacted her about home insurance for the house at 2300 Jackson St.,, said she would love to see the event become a regular tourist attraction like Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home.
“I was just kind of hoping this becomes an annual thing… a national tribute to Michael,” she said.
Freeman-Wilson said she would like to work with the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority to find a way to quantify what the festival brings to the city, including in money spent. “We know it’s going to be a positive thing,” she said. “The question then becomes what does it look like and how much.”
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/29487952-421/michael-jackson-birthday-celebrations-kick-off-thursday-in-gary.html#.U_5gDPldWc4
Gary to Celebrate Michael Jackson's Birthday
Michael Jackson's boyhood hometown of Gary plans three-day festival to mark singer's birthday
POSTED: 05:28 PM EDT Aug 27, 2014 UPDATED: 05:28 PM EDT Aug 27, 2014
GARY, Ind. (AP) -Michael Jackson's boyhood hometown of Gary is getting ready to celebrate his birthday again.
Event promoter Karvin Johnson tells the Post-Tribune that this year's three-day Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts will focus not only on the famous singer, but also on encouraging new artists.
Johnson says Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, and other family members, including Michael Jackson's children, are scheduled to attend.
The festival kicks off Thursday with an orchestra and choir made up of Gary students singing and playing a medley of Michael Jackson songs. The Gary Community School Corp. conducted an audition last week for the lead singer.
The musical performance will be followed by a ceremony Thursday afternoon at Roosevelt High School that will include remarks by local officials.
___
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/gary-to-celebrate-michael-jacksons-birthday/27759456
August 27, 2014 5:03PM
The Roosevelt Dance Team performs at the Michael Jackson birthday celebration in Gary on Aug. 29, 2013.
| Jim Karczewski\For Sun-Times Media
ARTICLE EXTRAS
View GalleryUpdated:
Celebrations for Michael Jackson’s birthday have grown from a block party around his boyhood home to a three-day festival set to start Thursday in what local officials and event promoters hope will become an annual affair.
The Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts focuses not only on the the famous musician, but also on encouraging new artists.
“(We want to) let them know it’s a good thing to develop the arts,” Karvin Johnson, one of the event’s promoters, said. “Develop your creativity.”
Previous events celebrating Jackson’s birthday on Aug. 29 have centered around his boyhood home at 2300 Jackson St. This year’s events — the fifth since he died in 2009 — have grown to encompass the nearby Roosevelt High School campus and will feature local and new artists.
Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, spearheaded the event, Johnson said, and she and other family members, including Michael Jackson’s children, will attend.
“She wants to set something in place that will be something to commemorate and celebrate Michael’s legacy,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he expects about 5,000 people a day at the festival, including people from Brazil, Canada and China.
The festival kicks off Thursday with an orchestra and choir made up of Gary students singing and playing a medley of Michael Jackson songs. The Gary Community School Corp. held an audition earlier this summer for the lead singer.
“Michael Jackson has always been one of the most beloved if not most beloved artists in R&B history,” Charmella Greer, spokeswoman for the school district, said. “Students, whether young or older, it doesn’t matter, they’re excited about (the festival).”
The musical performance will be followed by a special ceremony at Roosevelt High School Thursday afternoon, which will include remarks by local officials.
Other highlights include a stage that will be next to the former Jackson home for new and emerging artists, a chance to learn record scratching and to play on drums, and a trivia competition that will, of course, focus on the Jackson family. Saturday will include a car show and a dance competition that will be judged by Michael Jackson’s children, Johnson said.
The festival will conclude Saturday night with a live musical performance by the band Mindless Behavior and fireworks.
“The main thing is to encourage kids that you can express yourself through art,” Johnson said.
Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said she sees the festival as a key piece to a week of events in Gary, including the Fuller Center Build, a service project that will build four homes in the area of the Jackson family’s former home.
“I think it will be a very positive even,” Freeman-Wilson said. “...I think it provides a new look, a positive look (of Gary).”
Both Freeman-Wilson and Johnson said they would like to see this event continue and grow each year. Johnson said the event promoters had looked at previous Jackson celebrations to see what worked and what didn’t to form this year’s plans and hope to add even more events in coming years, including possibly a circus.
Another event promoter, Sharon Chamber, a Gary businesswoman who became involved after the Jackson family contacted her about home insurance for the house at 2300 Jackson St.,, said she would love to see the event become a regular tourist attraction like Graceland, Elvis Presley’s former home.
“I was just kind of hoping this becomes an annual thing… a national tribute to Michael,” she said.
Freeman-Wilson said she would like to work with the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority to find a way to quantify what the festival brings to the city, including in money spent. “We know it’s going to be a positive thing,” she said. “The question then becomes what does it look like and how much.”
http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/29487952-421/michael-jackson-birthday-celebrations-kick-off-thursday-in-gary.html#.U_5gDPldWc4
Gary to Celebrate Michael Jackson's Birthday
Michael Jackson's boyhood hometown of Gary plans three-day festival to mark singer's birthday
POSTED: 05:28 PM EDT Aug 27, 2014 UPDATED: 05:28 PM EDT Aug 27, 2014
Event promoter Karvin Johnson tells the Post-Tribune that this year's three-day Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts will focus not only on the famous singer, but also on encouraging new artists.
Johnson says Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, and other family members, including Michael Jackson's children, are scheduled to attend.
The festival kicks off Thursday with an orchestra and choir made up of Gary students singing and playing a medley of Michael Jackson songs. The Gary Community School Corp. conducted an audition last week for the lead singer.
The musical performance will be followed by a ceremony Thursday afternoon at Roosevelt High School that will include remarks by local officials.
___
http://www.wsbt.com/news/local/gary-to-celebrate-michael-jacksons-birthday/27759456