What to Know

Please familiarize yourself with the First Aid page.

Check-In Time

9:00 AM at the main stage unless communicated otherwise.

Where should I park?

Unless given specific guidance, parking anywhere on 44th, 45th, and St. Lawrence is recommended.

Lanyards

Blue Lanyards = Volunteers 

Brown Lanyards = Vendors 

Green Lanyards = Media (News outlets, photo and video team, marketing staff, and interns)

Clean Up - Everyone

We will need all hands on deck for clean-up after the event. Clean up can begin at 6:30pm over in the food court, vendor marketplace and health and wellness area since activities in that area will be concluding. 

Tools to support cleanup will be available in the green room. Trash pickers, extra garbage bags, dollies and wagons. Generally all volunteers based in specific zones should support cleaning up their zone throughout the day.

Once the 32-gallon bins are full, place their trash bags in the dumpsters near the food trucks on the other side of the fence in the backlot. Prioritize filling these dumpsters before the ones that are placed in the park.

Hospitality - Breakfast 

There will be people onsite early morning to help with setup. We will provide refreshments for those setting up throughout the morning and make breakfast accessible to everyone in a central location rather than the green room. Please use one 6 foot table placed in the food court area to setup continental breakfast. 

We will need plates of food made for the sound & video production teams and brought to them in their sound booth and filming stations in the park toward the stage around noon.  

Green Room (Morning View Word Church) Volunteers

We will be using Morning View Word Church as our official Green Room Space. We will have access to the space starting at 7am. We will leverage their downstairs level of the church as our green room space – NOT the main sanctuary area. At 9am all volunteers should report to the mainstage and then be delegated from there to support further. In the morning, volunteers will make sandwiches at the food court for staff lunch and should ensure waters are stocked in the fridge throughout the day for artists and staff. Volunteer support will also be needed for the staff barbecue dinner at 4pm.

T-SHIRTS: We will distribute the majority of items at the 9am huddle in front of the mainstage but after that, these will need to be brought to the Green Room by those helping setup the green room area. At that time, we will need volunteers to setup t-shirts, bandanas, and hats in the foyer in front of the main sanctuary doors. This will limit traffic inside the sanctuary and also allow those in need of shirts and apparel to easily access it. 

SETUP: We will need separate volunteers heading downstairs within the church to setup the green room area. Clean out the kitchen area and designate space for midday lunch catering. Place all needed refreshments and food for lunch (sandwiches and water) in the fridge. Set out chips, napkins, and additional water on the kitchen counter. Starting at 12pm sandwiches can be placed out incrementally to provide lunch to those onsite. Replenish as needed throughout the day. 

SMALL ROOM: We will need to clear out the smaller room in the back left corner of the space in the event that Chance The Rapper and Taylor Bennett decide to join us for the event. Clear out debris, place waters, and some refreshments back there ahead of their arrival time. Someone should be onsite at the church to greet and guide them to their area and escort them to the park when it is time.

Entrances

We will need to set up a check-in area at both main entrances for registering people, passing them through security and welcoming them in. These main entrances will be located at: 

• 44th & Langley

• 45th & Champlain

The check-in areas will each need the following: 

• 10x10 tent (1 provided by the Park District, 1 rented) 

• 1 6ft Table (for security to check bags) in the middle to allow for two lines to form on either side of the table. 

• 1 Sandwich board A Frame sign - “Didn’t get Free Tickets? GET THEM HERE + QR CODE”  should be on the side facing the street. On the other side of the A Frame sign facing the park should be “ENTER TO WIN $300 Gift Card. TAKE OUR SURVEY + QR CODE”

• 1 Sandwich board A Frame sign - No liquor, no weed, no vapes, no cigarettes, etc. On the other side of the A Frame sign facing the park should be “ENTER TO WIN $300 Gift Card. TAKE OUR SURVEY + QR CODE”

• If there are two openings at the corner of an entrance, please use the vinyl banners on the outer fence of the park to block off one opening and funnel all traffic to the other. The NW entrance to the park needs to be blocked using banners. Marketing volunteers should take care of this. The SW corner is for talent and media only. A sandwich board indicating that will be placed there.

Entrance Volunteers

Everyone must RSVP on Eventbrite. If elderly and unable to access technology, then we must collect emails and phone numbers manually in a spreadsheet here. 

6 People & 5 Steps (in this order): 

1. Front Runner announces to those in line to have tickets ready. If they didn’t rsvp they can scan the QR Code or go to blackandbronzefest.evenebrite.com to get free tickets. 

2. 2 Lead Scanners will use their phones to scan people’s tickets through the Eventbrite Organizer app.  

3. Security will then check bags, scan guests as needed

4. Wristband Issuer will distribute wristbands to guests & ask for donations.

5. Metrics Counters will use clickers to count kids (green), seniors (red), and people leaving the festival (purple).

Encourage guests as they depart to scan the QR code to take our survey and win a $300 gift card.

People should shift every half hour who is doing what role to give people ample time to get shade, rest, sit, etc. 

We will also need two volunteers manning the talent and media entrance to ensure only those with the correct lanyards are moving through that entrance. 

South Activation Volunteers

Haven Dental Community Portraits 

Haven Dental Studio will host an elegant community portrait area with their resource table alongside it. They will manage their display on the table but we will need to place the table in the correct spot, setup the portrait station, and welcome the Haven team when they arrive. We will need volunteers to help set up the photo backdrop. We will have a 10x10 photo backdrop frame, a navy blue velvet backdrop drape, and some prop pieces (wooden console, gold vases, fake plants, and seating).

We will need support with setting this up, breaking it down, and being on the lookout at 12:30pm for Haven Dental’s team to arrive for setup. Please note, Conei (Pronounced like “Connie”) Coleman (he/him) is expecting his wife to give birth around the same time as the festival. He consequently may not attend. Please be in touch with Kimberly in his stead if that is the case. 

Nichelle Drayton will lead the setup for this activation and will be the point of contact for Conei Coleman and Kimberly Jackson.

For guidance or answers to questions, feel free to reach out to Nichelle.

Key Contacts: 

Nichelle Drayton (773) 491-4987

Conei Coleman (773) 225-6577

Kimberly Jackson (773) 677-4993

Archival Walkway

We will have a miniature outdoor exhibit documenting Bronzeville’s history throughout the years. It will start with a welcome arch and then move through multiple alternating tension fabric panels. We will need support with setting up the arch and panels and making sure that they are steady and supported (with sandbags).

The order of banners is as follows:

1. Arch - Welcome to Black & Bronze

2. L-shaped panel - The Great Migration + Red Summer of 1919

3. Single panel - The Business and Innovation Boom

4. L-shaped panel - The Soundtrack of Bronzeville + The Golden Era of Arts and Culture

5. Single panel - Civil Rights

6. L-shaped panel - Innovations in Science and Bud Biliken Parade

7. Singular panel - Resilience and Renaissance

8. L-shaped panel - Legacy Wall Collage

9. Single panel - Reflection Wall

Throughout the festival, please monitor people’s interactions with the walkway, ensuring people are not being too heavy-handed with the panels or taking pieces of the display with them.

At the end of the day, we will need help breaking down the archway and panels.

For guidance or answers to questions, feel free to reach out to Nichelle.

Senior Seating

We will have a designated tented seating area for seniors attending the event. We will have a 20x10 tent rental from Magnanimous Rentals. The company will provide the tent, but we must set it up and break it down.

50 chairs from the Chicago Park District should be placed in rows with “windows” facing the stage area.

Barber Zone Volunteers

We are teaming up with local barbers to offer complimentary lineups to kids under 14 years old. Please note this service is not a full haircut but rather a lineup to maximize children served over the course of the first hour. 

Volunteers helping in this zone will be doing the following: 

• Welcoming barbers onsite and getting them situated in the barber activation zone 

• Setting up the adjustable height stools on a flat surface in the designated area near the playground 

• Managing lines and reminding families that the service is a lineup rather than a full hair cut (so requests for special designs, fades, etc will not be permitted) 

• Cueing up the next child in line 

• Staffing each chair with a barber cape

• Cleaning up the area after the hour ends using the broom and dust pan in the green room

Vendors, Food Court, and Food Trucks Volunteers

The food trucks will be located in the adjacent back lot of Carter G Woodson Elementary and Bright Star Community Outreach. Food trucks will have to enter through the north gate on 44th Street to get access to the back lot. Food Trucks will provide their own generators for power and lines to order should remain on that side of the fence. 

On the other side of the fence will be the food court area on the terrace. Tables and chairs should be placed around the area to allow for guests to sit and eat together after ordering food. 

We will need volunteers managing this area throughout the day by doing the following: 

• Managing food lines and having them wrap around the backlot rather than into the food court

• Wiping down food court tables as needed and maintaining a clean area. 

• Replacing trash bags as needed in bins nearby 

• Guiding people to hand washing stations near port-a-potties as needed 

• Managing spills and major messes if they occur 

• Setting up 10x10 spaces for each vendor in the vendor marketplace by using chopsticks in groups of 3 to indicate corners in a 10x10 space

• Answering questions for vendors and helping them get set up in their spaces as needed

• Encouraging guests to vote for their favorite business

• Helping judges find different businesses if they are lost or confused

• If major issues occur, people can report to Stefanie Moore (773) 844-7492 with their questions.

Talent Escort Volunteers

Natalie Hall will be at Morning View Word Church, checking in talent as they arrive and communicating with them when they need to mobilize to head over to the park. Talent will be escorted from the green room to the main stage by Zach Pedigo, and the stage manager, Mea Anderson, will ensure that talent is ready for their introduction. Emcees will introduce talent once they have been cued by Mea.

After their performances, volunteers will escort talent to the South Side Radio Live media tent to conduct their post-performance interviews.

Safety & Security

We will need volunteers to:

• Ensure no one is hopping the fence or engaging in undesirable activities behind the stage

• Ensure no one is hopping the fence or trying to enter in the NW corner.

• Monitor who is entering the Talent & Media entrance in the SW corner; only those being escorted by volunteers, wearing a media badge, and the following names should be coming in through that entrance:

  • Keez (@richoffimpact)

  • Shanikky

  • Joshua Doss

  • WGN representative