Columbus festival brings awareness to violence, crime and more

COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) - A festival in the Fountain City is bringing awareness to the violence and crime in the community.

It's the Third Annual Black Heritage Black Arts Festival in Midtown.  Organizers say it's an important way to address serious issues in the community.

"One of the things that we wanted to do display a lot of attention to the black on black crime here in Columbus Georgia. What we're trying to do is put that to the side and pick up knowledge. We have a lot of knowledge booths out here today like life insurance, credit repair and suicide prevention," says Organizer Nikki Pollard.

Hundreds of people coming out to the event to show their support in an effort to rebuild and look forward to a greater.

"We're discussing and seeing how we can make it better rather than sweeping it under the rug. If we're not related to the person it doesn't matter. We're all related at the end of the day," says volunteer Shedrick Pollard.

They say the goal is to bring awareness to issues that they say plague the community as the first step to repairing it through live performances food music and more.

"Each year we see the growth and it's amazing and the more marketing and advertising that we do it gets bigger and bigger. This is an event where you come out with your cultural clothes. Everyone is welcome. It's a free event for the community. We pay attention to issues that needs to be addressed in the community," says Nikki.

They say next year's festival will be the day before Labor Day and are hoping for an even larger turnout.

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