Howard is collaborating with WHUT, the television station, for the second annual homecoming Fam Fest on Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in The Valley. This event is for the Howard community and alumni to spend homecoming with their kids while engaging in live performances, activities, music, games and more.
Fam Fest began as an idea from Education and Outreach Manager Keisha Nelson, who wanted to create a family-friendly atmosphere during homecoming weekend.
Sharon Lopes Drayton, senior production manager at WHUT and lead of this year’s Fam Fest, said their mission is to help underserved audiences and offer activities to the community.
“Fam Fest is our way of doing that as part of homecoming. We’re just building on the success we had last year. This year it will include not only stage performances, but there’s also a theme, ‘Mind, Body and Soul,’” Drayton said.
For the mind, local authors will be reading books and teaching literacy. Representing the body, they teamed up with the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences to bring in nutritionists and dietitians to talk to children about the importance of drinking water, limiting sugar intake, and participating in physical activities.
Drayton said the soul is represented in the partnership between Howard and WHUT, the first television station licensed by an HBCU and the only Black-owned public station. They want to expose HBCU culture to children.
There will also be characters like Lyla from “Lyla in the Loop”, the first animated TV show on PBS Kids to feature an African-American character, as well as Clifford the Big Red Dog. Live performances will include the Calico Kids Puppets, YouTuber Mike Takes on Science, PBS Kids programming and more.
Nneka Bolden, co-creator, digital producer and outreach director of “Lyla in the Loop,” said as an alumni, she thinks it’s important for children to see HBCU culture first-hand.
“[There’s] a huge opportunity to show kids that you can be in higher education, especially Black kids, that you can have a number of different job opportunities or careers. You can study all kinds of things and you can be surrounded by intelligent, brilliant Black scholars,” Bolden said.
Last October, Bolden was at Fam Fest with “Lyla in the Loop” and said the children were extremely happy to see Lyla and already had connections to her before even seeing her on TV.
“The show hadn’t even aired because it was in October. The show aired in February. Kids were coming up like, ‘Oh, I know her. I’ve seen her before.’ There’s just something so familiar, and I think that means we did our job, that we were representing real kids, real Black families, and that was really important,” Bolden said.
Last year, more than 300 people attended. This year, with more activities and performances, they are hoping for an even bigger turnout.
“We hope that it’s going to be really enjoyable. [It’s] a good way for HU alums, the general public and the HU community to bring their kids out and do something fun with them,” Drayton said.
Deron Snyder, professor in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications and alum, brought his children to homecoming for the first time when they were in middle school. He said they enjoyed it, but they did not attend adult events like the Tailgate Party because it’s not a good environment for younger children.
“People want to bring their kids to show them, ‘Hey, this is my alma mater, and this is what it’s like.’ There’s a lot to see,” Snyder said.
Before the school year began, Howard announced that an event would not be on this year’s itinerary.
“The University is planning special activities to commemorate the centennial celebration and will not hold the Tailgate Party that has traditionally been held at the Howard Center parking lot, to create a more unique and family-friendly experience on Saturday,” the statement reads.
Snyder understands why Howard would make this decision after issues in recent years, including overcrowding, rushing barricades and people jumping over gates.
“It was getting out of control, maybe even dangerous and scary. I also understand why some alums are upset that it was canceled to be honest, the tailgate had outgrown that [parking] lot it’s held in,” Snyder said.
Although the tailgate tradition was disrupted this year, Drayton hopes this leaves room for new traditions to begin.
“It’s not about taking away from what homecoming has been, it’s about adding another arm, another alternative for alumni to participate and making it more well-rounded,” she said. “[WHUT] has been here for over 40 years on campus, and this gives us a chance to show how proud we are to be part of Howard University and to share the resources we have with the community.”
Copy edited by Anijah Franklin
