The East St. Louis Heritage Festival will be held noon and 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 26 at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, located at 101 Jackie Joyner-Kersee Circle in East St. Louis. The free family event will look back at the rich history of the city with an eye toward the future.
It will be presented by the City of East St. Louis, Governor’s Office of the Illinois Bicentennial and Ameren Illinois to coincide with the bicentennial celebration to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the first Illinois Constitution in Kaskaskia.
“We are showcasing a nostalgic walk down memory lane with exhibits rarely publicized to be shared with an appreciative audience,” said Charlotte Ottley, Heritage Festival coordinator. Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks will be on-hand to showcase renderings from various developers’ proposals showing what the City will look like in the future.
The festival will have numerous exhibits, live entertainment with a tribute to Miles Davis by the Bosman Twins; demonstrations, photo booth, market place vendors, a Children’s Village, Church Row hosted by Sparkman’s Magazine; Champions Corner, hosted by Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee; an interactive legacy wall that allows people to designate where their family moved throughout the City hosted by I AM EST Magazine; and an opportunity to listen to the political soapbox with the NAACP.
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis will host Health Unit along with BJC HealthCare/Belleville Memorial Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
An “East St. Louis Love Legacy Exhibit,” by East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene B. Redmond, will be an interactive ensemble of collages, murals, mosaics, quilts, pillows, newspapers, magazines, album covers, book covers, photographs, narrative timelines, superimpositions, sculptures, paintings and other memorabilia.
Ameren Illinois is the presenting sponsor for the event. The company recently opened a renovated operating center on Broadway Street and committed millions to modernize the City’s electric and natural gas infrastructure.
