More than 5,000 people expected for inaugural ‘225 Fest’ in downtown BR

Thousands of people are expected to pack downtown Baton Rouge in a few weeks for the new '225 Fest' on Feb. 25.
Published: Feb. 6, 2023 at 10:52 PM CST

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Thousands of people are expected to pack Downtown Baton Rouge in a few weeks for the new 225 Fest.

The festival is a celebration of culture in the Capital Region with food trucks, live performances, and much more.

What started as a vision will soon become a reality.

“225 Fest is essentially an event that manifested from a social media phenomenon,” said Myra Richardson, the founder and creator of 225 Fest. “It was something that people used to celebrate the community that they were from that correlated with that area code.”

The festival will bring together the rich history and culture of the Capital City together on Saturday, February 25.

“I think there’s oftentimes a lot of bad news, a lot of headlines, a lot of data points, but I don’t think it reflects the human data, of like there are people who are making it every single day. There are working-class families, there are the college students who are using this as a launch pad, that’s what we need to show about the Capital Region,” explained Richardson.

Richardson added more than 4,000 people have already RSVPd for the event. And organizers are expecting between 5,000 and 7,000 people on event day, near and inside the Capitol Park Museum.

“We’re going to have some of our local high school bands. They’ll be some live performances with our musical bands, Universal Language. We’ll have DJs, multiple panel discussions. But most importantly, we’re working on a special campaign to highlight 225 people in the Capital Region, who are moving our community forward,” noted Richardson.

She said there will be something for every age range and every background, highlighting all the good in Baton Rouge.

“I think when we talk about how we move things like this, it’s the spirit of people. And we want to be able to invite every walk of life here, and we want people to see a reflection of themselves in this event. So, every portion from the planning phase, to our vendors, to who’s serving you in the food trucks, will represent the Capital Region. It’s not just Black, it’s not just White, it’s not just Hispanic, it’s not just Asian, it’s every nationality being represented and that’s something we’re proud of,” said Richardson.

The festival is still looking for volunteers. CLICK HERE to sign up.

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