Soulfest continues to make a difference in Aurora
Aurora’s annual Soulfest and Black Business Expo is a tradition for Lillian Perry.
It’s a tradition she says has helped support “long-lasting” improvements to some of Aurora’s neighborhoods.
And it’s coming to town from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, in May Street Park at the corner of Illinois and Highland avenues on Aurora’s west side.
“It’s keeping the neighborhood together and educating the neighborhood on what’s available in the city for you,” Perry said. “At this point in time, everyone needs information on where to go to get this and how to get that.”
Perry has been running Soulfest the past 33 years as a fundraiser for a nonprofit she helped start, Citizens for Neighborhood Improvement.
Over the years, the event has helped the group run efforts such as a senior and youth program in which young Aurorans mowed lawns and took out trash for senior citizens.
This year, festival proceeds will help Citizens for Neighborhood Improvement give free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to residents who need them, Perry said.
“Due to the fact there’s been such a downturn in the economy, there are a lot of seniors and disabled and a lot of individuals who can’t afford to buy smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors,” Perry said.
With recent Aurora events in mind, such as the Claim Street apartment fire in May, Perry said group members chose giving free smoke and carbon monoxide detectors as an idea “that readily would make a difference right away.”
Admission to Soulfest is free, but visitors can support Citizens for Neighborhood Improvement’s initiatives by buying food; an adult meal costs $12 and hot dog plates for kids cost $1.50 each.
The event includes music, children’s activities, including a piñata to break and a watermelon-eating contest with prizes, and booths set up by social service agencies and area businesses.
Between 20 and 25 businesses are expected, said Roscoe Greene, executive director of the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce, which organized the event’s business expo.
Some shops will offer freebies, while others will be there to promote what they sell to the crowd of up to 400 people expected to attend.
“This is the African American Chamber’s first participation in the event as an organization,” Greene said. “We’re excited about it. We believe it brings on some great opportunities for minority business and business as a whole.”
If you go
What: 34th annual Soulfest and Black Business Expo
When: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20
Where: May Street Park at the corner of Illinois and Highland Avenues, Aurora
Who: Sponsored by Citizens for Neighborhood Improvement in partnership with the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce, State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, the Fox Valley Park District, Paul and Bills Service Station and other businesses
Cost: Free admission; adult meal $12; kids hot dog plate, $1.50
Info: (630) 896-5431