Kinfolk Fest brings Black joy, music and art back to Waterfront Park

SD Melanin’s annual Juneteenth festival featured a week of experiences, including an all day music festival.

Written by Rami Alarian, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp

The smell of barbecue and Nigerian food drifted across Waterfront Park last Saturday as hundreds of people browsed vendor booths, spread blankets across the lawn and danced to live music during Kinfolk Fest, the ninth annual Juneteenth celebration of Black joy, culture and freedom.

Hosted by SD Melanin, the festival has grown into a weeklong series of events celebrating Black culture. This year's main event drew roughly 1,500 attendees, more than 100 vendors  and live performances by local artists, including Urban Royalty, Deejay Dandelion and Bar1ne.

Friendly faces pulled guests into booths selling apparel, hair care and art while the smell of barbecue, cookies, bundt cakes and Nigerian beef, chicken and goat filled the park. Throughout the day, musicians from multiple genres cycled through sets for the large crowd camped out with blankets and lawn chairs on the grass-covered lawn. 

Groups crowded around chess boards and spades tables in the gaming section, and visitors explored a historic art installation and a photo booth. 

SD Melanin Founder Loren Cobbs said creating a sense of belonging was intentional.

“I know how it feels to be in spaces in which you are explicitly and implicitly not wanted, and I know how it feels when you’re in spaces where you feel invisible,” Cobbs said. “Events like this are important because it makes us feel seen.” 

Cobbs said that “kinfolk” is a natural concept within the Black community and culture that represents an almost family-like community. 

“When you see Kinfolk, you know who that is,” she said. “In the Black community, it’s like you don’t have to be family because you can still be kin.” 

Starting with smaller dinners and meetups, Cobbs has produced events to unite community members since 2017. After noticing a need for more Juneteenth celebrations in San Diego, she ventured out to create one herself. 

Those gatherings evolved into Kinfolk Fest, the multi-day event series on the week of Juneteenth. This year’s festival featured a free Entrepreneur Workshop at San Diego Made Factory, an R&B night at The Rail and a Black artist exhibition at the Broker's Building Art Gallery Board. 

“I deeply feel like we deserve amazing spaces,” Cobbs said. “Like you can take your shoes off, you can dance in the grass and you can do it in a space that was curated specifically for you.” 

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day the last enslaved people were notified of their freedom in Galveston, Texas. It was nearly two months after the end of the Civil War and two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Robert Hudgins, a popcorn vendor at the event, said he found it odd that more people hadn’t  known about the historic holiday until recently, adding that he is grateful more institutions are recognizing it.  

“I’m just happy to see people asking and learning and trying to be educated on [Juneteenth],” Hudgins said.  

For Ashlee Barnes, an attendee on her second annual visit to Kinfolk Fest, the holiday is all about freedom. 

“I hope that my participation builds a bridge for my kids, my nephews, my nieces to come out and see people that look just like them that are thriving, that are happy and that are liberated,” she said. 

Barnes said she came back to Kinfolk Fest for a second year because she noticed the love everyone has for one another, and the fact that attendees have so much passion for the holiday. 

“Everyone is in a great mood and ready to celebrate," Barnes said. “I’m here to celebrate not only culture and history, but just the presence of today.”

She added that one of the biggest appreciations she had for the festival were the vendors themselves and the chance to support Black-owned businesses. 

Jennifer Laurent, a street vendor advocate and coach, used her Kinfolk Fest booth to promote her clients and ask attendees about their vending preferences. She said events that bring a lot of local Black-owned businesses in the same place are great ways to keep money circulating for Black San Diegans. 

“Some of these vendors can earn $3, $5 or $10,000 depending on what their product is, and that’s a huge income boost,” Laurent said. 

For founder Cobbs, Kinfolk Fest is also a chance to economically support the Black community in San Diego. 

"It's not just like we're just having a good time,” Cobbs said. “We're building real economic empowerment. We're creating pathways for new customers, new opportunities.” 

As the sun set, people gravitated away from the vendors and the food stands, instead forming crowds around the stage where hundreds of people started line dancing to iconic songs like “CUFF IT” by Beyoncé and “Walk It Out” by Unk. 

Cobbs still approaches Kinfolk Fest with the same goal she had when she launched it: If you build spaces for community, people will come. 

“We do it because we love the community,” she said.