The Delaware and Virginia State alumni continue to strive and excel in the success of their renowned festival.
Dear Summer festival is back, but larger than ever! The story behind the festival started as a small cultural campus event that brought together scholars, creatives, and Greek life. This small moment of enjoyment catapulted into an idea that the founders believed they could scale into a source of entertainment nationally. “After college, we missed our friends and still wanted to see them, so we all put our money together and had a couple of hot dogs and hamburgers on the table,” says Community Services Liason Damel Pinkney. From their first event, they had about two hundred to five hundred guests in attendance in their first year. Now celebrating their fifth year, “we’re going to have about nine thousand here tonight,” Pinkney shared. This year’s headliners included Hip-Hop rap artist Meek Mill and dancehall artist Valiant. The fusion of rap and dancehall cemented culture in the diaspora, representing the diverse, fun guests who would enjoy it. “The growth has been unbelievable. It sometimes leaves us speechless about how we started, where we got to, and what level we are in now.”
Amid the success, the founders share that the goal is continuous growth. “We anticipate every event growing in its own right,” Pinkney shared determinedly. “It’s a goal. Something that we are going to do.”
Outside of the fun, an integral part of the initiative is creating a space “for us, by us.” “I think when you look at it, we are all we have,” Rodney Henry, VP of Dear Summer Festival, shared candidly. “If we can’t reach back and grab our brother and sister so we can place them in a situation where they can get recognized, then what are we here for?”
The festival also included a variety of locally sourced delicious food vendors, immersive activations from Tito’s and Jim Beam, fun interactive photo-ops, and games that attendees enjoyed before leading up to the main performance events by Valiant and Meek Mill.
Additional surprise performances included Jim Jones, Rowdy Rebel, Kocky Ka, Bay Swag, and more!
The next stops on the multi-city tour are Atlanta on July 19th, Washington, DC on August 16th, and Houston on September 20th.
