page_title: African Americans in Atlanta
section_title: Culture and recreation
hierarchical_section_title: African Americans in Atlanta / Culture and recreation
caption_attribution_description: Montage of Atlanta images. From top to bottom left to right: Atlanta skyline Fox Theatre Georgia State Capitol Olympic Centennial Park Millennium Gate Canopy Walk Georgia Aquarium Midtown Skyline
context_page_description: Atlanta has long been known as a center of black wealth, higher education, political power and culture; a cradle of the Civil Rights Movement and the home of Martin Luther King Jr. It has often been called a "black mecca".
context_section_description: Atlanta is widely noted as the most prominent U.S. city for black culture, music, nightlife, film, theater, history, and visual arts.  Some notables include the following.
  The National Black Arts Festival has been based in Atlanta since the late 1980s.  Throughout the year, the festival features performing arts, literature and visual arts produced by creative artists of African descent.
  The Atlanta Jazz Festival in Piedmont Park is one of the largest free jazz festivals in the country and features mostly black artists. The annual event is hosted by the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs.
  The A3C Festival & Conference is an annual fall event that mostly highlights African-American artists, creatives, innovators, activists, and entrepreneurs.
  The One Musicfest is an annual summer Hip-Hop/R&B concert held in Atlanta.
  Atlanta's V-103 Winterfest is a Hip-Hop/R&B concert event held in State Farm Arena every December.
  The Castleberry Hill district (mainly Peter Street) has a notable concentration of popular black businesses and social spaces.
  Edgewood Avenue (Old Fourth Ward/Downtown) has a notable concentration of popular black businesses and social spaces.
  The Sweet Auburn Springfest is an annual outdoor festival held in the historically black Sweet Auburn district.  It is one of the largest free outdoor festivals in the Southeastern United States.
  The Sweet Auburn Music Festival is a large free outdoor black music event that place every fall in the historic Sweet Auburn district.
  Afropunk Atlanta is a week-long fall festival that includes live music, film, fashion, and art produced by black artists.
  The Taste of Soul Atlanta is a four-day annual summer event that celebrates soul food and African-American culture.
  Atlanta Black Restaurant Week is an annual event that highlights and celebrates the unique contributions of black-owned restaurants and black culinary professionals to the city's food scene.
  The HBCU Alumni Alliance 5K Run/Walk is an annual summer fundraising event in Atlanta. 
  The Black Writers Weekend annual conference is based in Atlanta as of 2014.  The conference is the nation's only entertainment award show and gathering for black creatives in publishing, film and TV enthusiasts.
  HBCU Summerfest is annual event celebrating and promoting unity amongst the nation's HBCUs.
  The Atlanta Funkfest is an annual event soul and R&B concert held in the summer.
  The Juneteenth Atlanta Parade & Music Festival is one of the largest annual Juneteenth events in the nation.
  Atlanta has an abundance of black-centric street art and murals in many parts of the city.
  The Cascade Skating Rink is a popular black-owned roller rink that was featured in the movie ATL (film) and is frequently patronized by black celebrities.
  The UniverSoul Circus, the nation's only black owned and centric traveling circus, was founded and is based in Atlanta.
  The Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History opened in 1994 and is located in the Sweet Auburn Historic District.
  There are several black owned and operated comedy clubs and productions in the Atlanta area.  Uptown Comedy Corner is one of the oldest black comedy clubs in the nation.
  In 2009, The New York Times noted that after 2000, Atlanta moved "from the margins to becoming hip-hop's center of gravity, part of a larger shift in hip-hop innovation to the South." Producer Drumma Boy called Atlanta "the melting pot of the South". Producer Fatboi called the Roland TR-808 ("808") synthesizer "central" to Atlanta music's versatility, used for snap, crunk, trap, and pop rap styles. The same article named Drumma Boy, Fatboi, Shawty Redd and Zaytoven the four "hottest producers driving the city".
  Atlanta is the setting for several movies and popular TV shows such as the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Tyler Perry's series, What Men Want, Atlanta, Being Mary Jane, and Star. Due to Perry, the Housewives, and others, Atlanta is known as the center of black entertainment in the U.S. Atlanta's status as the center of black entertainment was more solidified with the 2019 opening
caption: Atlanta montage
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