The Cotton Avenue Coalition will the host the Cotton Avenue Revival Festival, a free public celebration of the legacy and revitalization of downtown Macon’s illustrious black business district Saturday, March 25 from 12:30-7pm and Sunday, March 26 from 1-3 pm. Sanctioned as an International Cherry Blossom Festival event, this festival is made possible thanks to the generosity of the Downtown Challenge Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. The Cotton Avenue Coalition won the grant to host the Festival as part of its ongoing efforts to draw awareness to the district’s historical significance and its rich assets. The Coalition is also working to designate Cotton Avenue as a local historic district as a proactive measure for preserving the buildings of the area.

The site of the Cotton Avenue Revival Festival will be downtown Macon’s Forsyth Street, originally known as Cotton Avenue. The street will be closed to traffic on Saturday, March 25 between Spring Street and New Street, set up with a stage featuring live music. Showcased performers include the Tubman Drum Circle, Central High School Choral and Performing Arts Ensemble, jazz by Groove Gumbo featuring trombonist Richard Owens, Dean Brown’s Dub Shak band with soul songstress Blak PearL, and others. Guided walking history tours will be held at 2pm and 4pm on Saturday, and open house tours will be offered throughout the festival by four historic downtown churches - Steward Chapel AME Church, First Baptist Church on New Street, Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church, and Holsey Temple CME Church on Washington Avenue.   

The Festival will end with a closing ceremony at Steward Chapel AME Church, 887 Forsyth Street, at 1pm on Sunday, March 26. The public is encouraged to attend a service at one of the four historic churches. All events are free and open to the public.

“Cotton Avenue is one of Macon’s richest areas of amazing and historic black institutions of education, business, religion and cultural life,” stresses Coalition member George Muhammad. “It is incumbent upon us not to let it be wiped out, but to revitalize and restore it in our lifetime.”

Commissioner Elaine Lucas worked with volunteers to host the first Cotton Avenue Revival Festival in 2011. This year’s Cotton Avenue Revival Festival will mark the beginning of the Festival as an annual event occurring during the International Cherry Blossom Festival. The goal of the Festival is to promote the district as a vital and active resource in downtown Macon and to share the incredible history of this culturally and architecturally significant district. “If we don’t work to preserve the valuable Cotton Avenue Historic District and its history we will lose it permanently,” stated Commissioner Elaine Lucas. “We need the entire community to support the Cotton Avenue Revival Festival.”