Unity-minded Black Columbus Family Reunion to take place at Franklin Park this weekend

The first-ever Black Columbus Family Reunion wants to rekindle a Columbus tradition.

The festival and expo, which are free and welcome to everyone to attend, will take place at Franklin Park Saturday and Sunday.

Inspired by the "Comin' Home" festival, founded by Lawrence Auls and taking place on Mt. Vernon Avenue from 1988 into the late 1990s, the Black Columbus Family Reunion aims to restore Columbus' feeling of unity and community.

Organizer DaVante Goins, 28, of the North Side, recalls attending the "Comin' Home" festival as a child, which included a parade and vendors, and had a brief resurgence in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

After the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns, he and fellow organizers involved with June's inaugural Juneteenth parade were inspired to bring the event back.

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For organizers, having the event at Franklin Park was significant because the park once served as a community hub for the Black community. Goins pointed to rising home prices and gentrification as reasons for that no longer being the case.

"There would be so many people there just in unity and hanging out," he said. "I have been able to find images in the archives of people just hanging out on Sunday and Saturday afternoons playing drums and different instruments, and just having a good time."

The event will feature various pavilions, including over 50 vendors at the "Buy Black" pavilion, over a dozen food trucks at the "Taste of Black 614 Expressway," as well as areas for Black authors and a "Kid-preneur" pavilion.

"When you're talking about having a family reunion or having a festival, and you're coining it the 'Black Columbus' or 'Black' anything, it's important to make sure that all of the dollars that are going to be generated from a festival and an event like this is poured back into our communities," said Goins.

A "Fit! Live! Win!" pavilion will feature health screenings, with representatives from Franklin County Public Health, CVS Health and CVS-owned Aetna in attendance.

Other activities reminiscent of Black family reunions include Double Dutch, line dancing, and spades and bid whist tables.

"Those are just things in the Black community (we did) when we didn't have much money growing up," said Goins. "You got very creative in how to play these different games. It brings people together."

Goins said the Black Columbus Family Reunion offers an opportunity for people to come together and have fun in a safe environment amid community challenges such as violence facing Columbus. He expects the event to continue annually on the weekend after Labor Day.

"Everybody is welcome no matter race, gender, ethnicity or whatever. Because this festival and reunion, at the end of the day, it's about unity and bringing the community together," said Goins.

The festival will take place at Franklin Park on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

tmoorman@dispatch.com

@taijuannichole

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Event inspired by 1990s festival taking place at Franklin Park