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And God forbid you succumbed to a medical emergency during this "big party"(people did). You were pretty much done for, as you were denied access to first responders during this disgusting intrusion. It was the ultimate display of selfishness, insensitivity and social irresponsibility. And screw (former, Thank God) Mayor Campbell for his enabling and feckless handling of the whole sordid event.
My college-educated (then, college students) friends and I had great times at Freaknic and only have fond memories of the event. I only mention education here to paint a slightly different picture of the crowd and Freaknic alumni that some seem to have.
We can talk about Freaknic like it happened yesterday. We had really good times in the traffic, at parties, and in Piedmont Park - meeting mostly other HBCU students from all over the country. Surely, a lot of my college mates in North Carolina had never been to Atlanta prior to their first Freaknic trip.
- At some point was their a loss of control? Sounds like it, but I don't remember being impacted by it.
- Did traffic in Atlanta suffer horribly? Absolutely.
- Did 'locals' and non-college students begin to put their own spin on it and change the 'college party' dynamic to something less alluring and unsafe? Undoubtedly.
Still, it should not be discounted as a fun, memorable time in Atlanta for THOUSANDS of college students taking their first 'road trip' without mom and dad.
I think Daytona, where students fall to their demise off balconies and parking garages, and hear the voices saying "oh, they are a just bunch of college kids having fun..."
It may not have been *your* cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it wasn't as impactful for some of us as Woodstock was to those who enjoyed it. The real Freaknic is legendary.
And God forbid you succumbed to a medical emergency during this "big party"(people did). You were pretty much done for, as you were denied access to first responders during this disgusting intrusion. It was the ultimate display of selfishness, insensitivity and social irresponsibility. And screw (former, Thank God) Mayor Campbell for his enabling and feckless handling of the whole sordid event.
The question become if Austin can do this......... why can't Atlanta?
The difference is Austin leaders were all in with organization, growing and benefiting from the party scene.
but Atlanta was against and ignore it, so it grow into something city couldn't handle.
This was a study a couple years back, The Geographic Flow of Music
In the late 80's and Early 90's Babyface and LA reid open up Laface record in Atlanta, they was R&B artists and Laface was an R&B label. Atlanta natives TLC, Usher among others started on Laface, and recording Artists like mariah carey, toni braxton, whitney houston and etc started recording in Atlanta. Outkast was there first of very few Hip hop artist
So why did Atlanta start to exploded in music? it's because Atlanta underground hip hop culture during the 90's. Much like Seattle grunge movement of the 90's. New York Punk Rock movement of the late 70's.
Crunk came from Memphis, Bounce music came from New Orleans and Bass music came from Miami. Atlanta basically became the nexus of the south. Freaknik gave Atlanta a megaphone so going into the 2000's Atlanta became one of the dominate and most influential cities in music.
At height of freaknik over 200,000 people came to Atlanta......... think about that for a second over 200,000 wanted to visited Atlanta for a weeknd.
Basically Austin owned it...... embrace the idea that the young love there city and come to have fun.
Atlanta basically treated freaknik like it wasn't happening.
200k is a big deal to the point that the city has to embrace it and step in to help with the organization. Because the city failed to do that it grew crazy.
Austin for a long time was largely known for live Rock music, most of the kids there were obviously white, so Austin events like SXSW was able grow with sponsors, the business community are behind the young white adults partying and etc it viewed as just having a young hip image.
But with Atlanta largely attraction black kids partying it's less accepted by some whites. So not even black leaders of Atlanta are going to step in and try to organize it. So the city treated freaknik like a hot potato and just ignore it til it grew out of control for being too massive to be not organize.
But regardless of the negatives from that, the event itself has a huge cultural legacy.
Last edited by chiatldal; 03-12-2017 at 05:44 PM..
Basically Austin own........ it embrace the idea that young love there city and come to have fun.
Atlanta basically treated freaknik like it wasn't happening.
200k is a big deal to the point that the city has to embrace it and step in to help with the organization. Because the city failed to do that it grew crazy.
A lot of the problems arose due to the Mayor's inaction over what he perceived as a political football. Whom to appease? Those that saw Freaknik as a positive thing for the city or those who didn't? He was having trouble figuring out which side of the issue would gain him the most Brownie Points.
My college-educated (then, college students) friends and I had great times at Freaknic and only have fond memories of the event. I only mention education here to paint a slightly different picture of the crowd and Freaknic alumni that some seem to have.
We can talk about Freaknic like it happened yesterday. We had really good times in the traffic, at parties, and in Piedmont Park - meeting mostly other HBCU students from all over the country. Surely, a lot of my college mates in North Carolina had never been to Atlanta prior to their first Freaknic trip.
- At some point was their a loss of control? Sounds like it, but I don't remember being impacted by it.
- Did traffic in Atlanta suffer horribly? Absolutely.
- Did 'locals' and non-college students begin to put their own spin on it and change the 'college party' dynamic to something less alluring and unsafe? Undoubtedly.
Still, it should not be discounted as a fun, memorable time in Atlanta for THOUSANDS of college students taking their first 'road trip' without mom and dad.
I think Daytona, where students fall to their demise off balconies and parking garages, and hear the voices saying "oh, they are a just bunch of college kids having fun..."
It may not have been *your* cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it wasn't as impactful for some of us as Woodstock was to those who enjoyed it. The real Freaknic is legendary.
The most reasonable and accurate post of the thread.
My college-educated (then, college students) friends and I had great times at Freaknic and only have fond memories of the event. I only mention education here to paint a slightly different picture of the crowd and Freaknic alumni that some seem to have.
We can talk about Freaknic like it happened yesterday. We had really good times in the traffic, at parties, and in Piedmont Park - meeting mostly other HBCU students from all over the country. Surely, a lot of my college mates in North Carolina had never been to Atlanta prior to their first Freaknic trip.
- At some point was their a loss of control? Sounds like it, but I don't remember being impacted by it.
- Did traffic in Atlanta suffer horribly? Absolutely.
- Did 'locals' and non-college students begin to put their own spin on it and change the 'college party' dynamic to something less alluring and unsafe? Undoubtedly.
Still, it should not be discounted as a fun, memorable time in Atlanta for THOUSANDS of college students taking their first 'road trip' without mom and dad.
I think Daytona, where students fall to their demise off balconies and parking garages, and hear the voices saying "oh, they are a just bunch of college kids having fun..."
It may not have been *your* cup of tea, but that doesn't mean it wasn't as impactful for some of us as Woodstock was to those who enjoyed it. The real Freaknic is legendary.
One of our kids happened to be getting married while Freaknik was in session. As the wedding party exited the church, several young men lined up at the sidewalk and decided to relieve themselves in our direction.
To me that sort of thing was the most obnoxious part of Freaknik. Yes, major streets were blocked and it was difficult to get to and from work, but so be it.
It's great if folks want to gather and listen to music and socialize, but we're not a resort town and we don't have a "strip" lined with motels and nightclubs. So when rowdy partying spills over into neighborhoods, churches and business areas it's a problem. There might be a way to do something like this in Atlanta but Freaknik wasn't it.
I missed a friend's wedding b/c of Freaknik. I was sitting on 75 around midtown and traffic was stopped, people were dancing on top of cars, running between cars. It did look like a lot of fun for those participating.
There was a similar festival in Chapel Hill NC called Apple Chill that just got bigger and bigger each year. There were episodes of violence b/n approximately 2000-2006 such that the festival was moved to the motor speedway in Roxboro after that. When it was taking place on the streets of Chapel Hill, it was very similar to Freaknik--a lot of fun for those attending but a nuisance for everyone else.
there a thread a about Atlanta leaders visiting Austin to see how Austin is attracting young professional..
I laughed so hard
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiatldal
This was a study a couple years back, The Geographic Flow of Music
In the late 80's and Early 90's Babyface and LA reid open up Laface record in Atlanta, they was R&B artists and Laface was an R&B label. Atlanta natives TLC, Usher among others started on Laface, and recording Artists like mariah carey, toni braxton, whitney houston and etc started recording in Atlanta. Outkast was there first of very few Hip hop artist
So why did Atlanta start to exploded in music? it's because Atlanta underground hip hop culture during the 90's. Much like Seattle grunge movement of the 90's. New York Punk Rock movement of the late 70's.
Crunk came from Memphis, Bounce music came from New Orleans and Bass music came from Miami. Atlanta basically became the nexus of the south. Freaknik gave Atlanta a megaphone so going into the 2000's Atlanta became one of the dominate and most influential cities in music.
At height of freaknik over 200,000 people came to Atlanta......... think about that for a second over 200,000 wanted to visited Atlanta for a weeknd.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chiatldal
Basically Austin owned it...... embrace the idea that the young love there city and come to have fun.
Atlanta basically treated freaknik like it wasn't happening.
200k is a big deal to the point that the city has to embrace it and step in to help with the organization. Because the city failed to do that it grew crazy.
Austin for a long time was largely known for live Rock music, most of the kids there were obviously white, so Austin events like SXSW was able grow with sponsors, the business community are behind the young white adults partying and etc it viewed as just having a young hip image.
But with Atlanta largely attraction black kids partying it's less accepted by some whites. So not even black leaders of Atlanta are going to step in and try to organize it. So the city treated freaknik like a hot potato and just ignore it til it grew out of control for being too massive to be not organize.
But regardless of the negatives from that, the event itself has a huge cultural legacy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LovinDecatur
A lot of the problems arose due to the Mayor's inaction over what he perceived as a political football. Whom to appease? Those that saw Freaknik as a positive thing for the city or those who didn't? He was having trouble figuring out which side of the issue would gain him the most Brownie Points.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AtlJan
I missed a friend's wedding b/c of Freaknik. I was sitting on 75 around midtown and traffic was stopped, people were dancing on top of cars, running between cars. It did look like a lot of fun for those participating.
There was a similar festival in Chapel Hill NC called Apple Chill that just got bigger and bigger each year. There were episodes of violence b/n approximately 2000-2006 such that the festival was moved to the motor speedway in Roxboro after that. When it was taking place on the streets of Chapel Hill, it was very similar to Freaknik--a lot of fun for those attending but a nuisance for everyone else.
That's the thing...I've always believed that city leaders should've "owned" it. There once was talk of embracing it and seguing the name to "Freedomfest." It could've been Atlanta's/The American South's version of SXSW.
I think with a foundation/initiation known as Freaknik, seguing the name to Freedomfest, city leaders owning/embracing it, and, in my opinion, making it happen during fall/October Break would've been great for Atlanta.
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