CSUB to hold Gospel Fest on Friday

Event will take place at Bakersfield High School's Harvey Auditorium

By California State University, Bakersfield

January 29^th, 2025

California State University, Bakersfield is holding its annual Gospel Fest at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, at Harvey Auditorium at Bakersfield High School, 1241 G. St. Admission is free and the doors open at 5 p.m.

The choirs of Pleasant View Missionary Baptist Church & Jerusalem Mission Community COGIC, Cain Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, Family Fellowship Church, Living Victory Church, the People’s Missionary Baptist Church, St. Peter Restoration Community Christian Ministries, Greater Harvest Christian Center and Church of God Bakersfield will make the rafters ring at the city’s oldest high school. The children of Agapeland Christian Academy once again will perform the Black National Anthem, a perennial highlight of the evening.

The festival returns to the scene of a milestone anniversary of one of the greatest civil rights moments in the history of Bakersfield. It was on the stage of Harvey Auditorium on Feb. 25, 1960, that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an address after being invited to the community by local civil rights leaders to conduct a peaceful march in the crusade for racial justice.

Dr. King and the marchers began their mile-long journey to BHS at Lowell Park, heading west on Fourth Street to Chester Avenue and then north to California Avenue. Along the way, mobs hurled bottles, bricks and other objects, as well as vicious slurs. But the marchers remained calm, their eyes focused ahead on their destination.

“May the choirs of the community churches who will join Kern County’s University for this joyful celebration draw upon the spirit of Dr. King and the immense pride that we feel during this month of reflection and reverence,” said CSUB President Dr. Vernon B. Harper Jr.

Organizers of Gospel Fest also will bestow the Pillar of Community Excellence Award, a surprise honor that honors a community member who often serves in the shadows without public recognition.

The Gospel Fest is sponsored by CSUB’s Office of the President, Division of Student Affairs, Office of Special Programs & Student Retention Initiatives, and Black Faculty & Staff Association.