|
|
Businesses | Community | Neighborhoods | Homes | Schools | Kids & Families | Eating | Events | Arts & Entertainment | Site Index | Search |
 |
|
| 04.14.99 | |
|
It's that time again . . . and everyone is wondering, how bad will it be this year. The annual rite of spring, Freaknik, also known as the Black College Spring Break, is heading back to Midtown this weekend. It's anybody's guess how many college kids will choose to make the pilgrimage to fight for their right to party this year. Few sanctioned events are scheduled, but Freaknik has never really been about scheduled events. It's simply a time for kids barely out of puberty to assert their God-given right to do whatever they want to do, wherever they want to do it, no matter what anyone else thinks. Local businesses are encouraged to allow employees to leave early on Friday. Weekends (usually starting no earlier than mid-afternoon) are Freaknik prime time, but there's no way to predict where the party will take root at any particular time, so it's best just to avoid prime Freaknik hot spots as much as possible. There will only be a couple of street closings: Peachtree from Memorial Drive to Ralph McGill Boulevard (from the Civic Center to south of the Capitol) will be closed beginning Friday evening and continuing through Sunday. Hopefully this will at least allow emergency vehicles to navigate the city if necessary.The Sweet Auburn Festival and a job fair at the World Congress Center are the only to officially sanctioned events this year. The Job Fair will be held from 9-5 on Saturday at the World Congress Center. Attendance at the job fair held during last year's Freaknik was small in comparison to the number of overall Freaknikers, but perhaps some good word-of-mouth spread about being able to actually accomplish something constructive while on Spring Break. The Sweet Auburn Festival tends to be a very nice, family-oriented neighborhood event with entertainment, street vendors, and food, and will probably appeal to the more mature students who are turned off by the hormone-induced rowdiness of the massive cruising parties, and those who want to take the opportunity to visit such an important center of Black history. Possibly the biggest challenge (and frustration) of Freaknik has always been its unpredictability. Because it is more of a three day teen-aged rampage than an "event" (in terms of having somewhere to go, something to do, and some code of conduct to follow), there has never been any way to know how many kids will show up or where they will choose to be at any one time. Police have said that they will monitor traffic and close streets that become too congested. Atlanta Police Chief Beverly Harvard has stated that unlawful behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. But the fact is, the police can't be everywhere all the time. The best we can hope is that things don't get out of hand, and no one gets hurt. |
If you are looking for more information about Freaknik, you can check out these sites. Unfortunately, Freaknik's spontaneity doesn't really lend itself to reference sites, so about the best you can get from this is an idea of the clubs and areas that are being mentioned as places to visit. Freaknik.net Black College Spring Break official web site of the City of Atlanta Freaknik.com |
|
|
Search: | Powered by FreeFind | |
|
|
|||