Freaknik

Freaknik was an annual spring break meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily of students from historically black colleges and universities.^[1] Begun in 1983 as a small picnic near the Atlanta University Center, it was initially sponsored by the DC Metro Club ^[1] and was typically held during the third weekend in April to coincide with the schools of the Atlanta University Center's Reading Day. The event increased in size and popularity in the 1990s with dancing, drinking, parties, a basketball tournament, rap sessions, a film festival and a job fair.^[2]

History

Conceived by the DC Metro Club of Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University, the Freaknik's start was back in 1980 as a small gathering in Adams Park. Many students from the AUC, Atlanta University Center, attended and partied to music provided by Flash Attack Inc.. DJ Bam Bam Barney and DJ Flash did the first 2 annual gatherings.

As it grew, the festival attracted upwards of 250,000 revelers to the city. However, as the freaknik grew in attendance Atlantans' reception of the festival was mixed. Many residents had attended and enjoyed Freaknik since it was started. Otherwise, Freaknik went largely unnoticed by most of the city.

The problems with Freaknik began in 1993, when the number of people coming to Atlanta for the event suddenly doubled to more than 80,000.

Many residents believe the City of Atlanta was caught off guard in 1993 by the increased number of people who came to the city for Freaknik. In some areas, the massive increase in cars on the road caused traffic to come to a halt, and the revelers got out of their cars and started roaming the streets. This in turn caused panic in some areas where people could not get home from their jobs, and they were trapped in areas where many revelers started harassing and yelling obscenities at residents. There were also several reports of violence, looting, rapes and other sexual assaults. All this showed Freaknik in a negative light, and Atlanta residents demanded that the city get control of the event.^{[3][4][5][6][6][7]}

Social problems

Things came to a head in 1994-96, after the event swelled to 250,000 people from around the country, and as the crowds grew larger, so did the problems. With tens of thousands of more cars on the city's streets, many of Atlanta's major thoroughfares became gridlocked, which disrupted the day-to-day lives of the city's residents and impaired emergency services.^[3]

Freaknik moves

Many Atlanta residents filed lawsuits and business and community leaders pressured Mayor Bill Campbell to end Freaknik or severely crack down on the event. By 1996, the Atlanta police were out in large numbers, making it difficult for the revelers to party in the streets and engage in other illegal behavior.^[3] After city leaders took measures to curtail Freaknik's accessibility, its popularity faded. As a result, Freaknik moved East of Atlanta to Memorial Drive in DeKalb County, then to Daytona Beach, Florida. By 1999, celebration of the festival had died down due to heightened police security.

In April 2010, Atlanta officials said "there are no permitted Freaknik-related events inside the city limits." Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed also said that "he will be tough and even sue organizers of any Freaknik-related activities who violate city guidelines".^[8]

Cultural influence

• Williams Street Studios produced a 1-hour special spoof titled Freaknik: The Musical based on the popular festival. The show aired on Adult Swim on March 7, 2010.^[9]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Freaknik.

• List of hip hop music festivals
• Urban culture
• African American culture
• Urban Beach Week

References