By Deseray McKinzy
GoForward Pine Bluff hosted its third fest on Saturday, June 20th, with this year’s theme as the 2021 ‘Blues Batter and Brew’. The fest was an all-day event presented by the Pine Bluff Convention Center at the Lakeview Amphitheater at Regional Park. It featured local, regional, and national artists, in partnership with the City of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The fest was hosted by Deltaplex’s own Wil Jenkins, who presented a total of nine featured artists to entertain the community.
The event took place on what is now a Federal Holiday, Juneteenth, and GoForward Pine Bluff director Dr. Ryan Watley spoke live with Deltaplex and told us what Juneteenth meant to him.
In scorching temperatures of over 90 degrees, the community continued to pack out Saracen Lake to enjoy live performances from 2 pm until 10 pm that evening, along with free beverages provided by GoForward, local vendors, food trucks, and more until midnight that evening.
Featured artists like Karen Wolfe, who is also a native of Pine Bluff, expressed to Deltaplex how she felt about being able to perform at home.
Another city native, Keith Savage, band member of the also featured band The On Call, also told us what Juneteenth being a Federal Holiday meant to him and how the fest relates to the freedom that African Americans celebrate today.
