Free Gospel Sundays began in 2008 as an indoor event at the Arsht, but in 2022, it broke away from that tradition and began exploring venues across Miami-Dade County, including the Historic Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church and Miami Gardens City Hall.
Gospel choirs such as the Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale and the Florida Fellowship Super Choir joined in for an outdoor event titled “Singing in the Streets.” For the first time, the gospel show became an outdoor gathering with less spotlight and more sunlight.
This past March, Free Gospel Sundays went offsite again for the first edition of Gospel Fest at Little Haiti Cultural Complex.
Whether inside or outside, “audiences deeply embrace the experience and the spirit of Free Gospel Sundays,” says Jenni Person, director of community engagement at the Arsht Center.
This season, the street performance experience is back, not only in Little Haiti for the second edition of Gospel Fest in April 2024 but across various locations in Miami-Dade with the return of “Singing in the Streets” on Saturday, October 28.
“Singing in the Streets,” according to Person, “expands our walls to envelop the whole county” with the kickoff as a celebration of the Free Gospel Sundays’ season with gospel throughout the community in North, Central, and South Miami.
The outdoor pop-up performances occur simultaneously in three locations. The Faith on Full Ensemble takes the stage at Betty T. Ferguson Park in Miami Gardens, Cynn Sage performs at Liberty City’s Charles Hadley Park, and Lady Elaine Nelson is at Larcenia J. Bullard Plaza in Richmond Heights.
“The idea is that the whole community can celebrate gospel music together at one moment, in unity,” says Person.
And it’s called Free Gospel Sundays for a reason. Everyone is invited at no cost.
“Street performances are an excellent way for the Arsht to interact with various communities on a broader spectrum,” says Isis Roberts from the Faith on Full Ensemble. “By taking it to the streets, they are either introducing or reintroducing themselves to people who have yet to have the opportunity to experience what the Arsht has to offer.”
Gospel singer CeCe Winans performed at the Arsht Center on September 17, 2017, as part of Free Gospel Sundays.
Photo by Sergi Alexander/Eyeworks Production
One day after “Singing in the Streets,” on Sunday, October 29, Free Gospel Sundays heads indoors with Tasha Page-Lockhart as the featured headliner at the Arsht Center.
A native of Detroit and a two-time Stellar Awards recipient, Page-Lockhart gained prominence as the champion of Season 6 on Sunday Best, the gospel-singing competition on BET.
On Sunday, December 17, the Arsht Center will present a Christmas performance featuring the Blind Boys of Alabama. With five Grammy Awards and a musical journey spanning more than seven decades, the gospel band will present holiday classics from its Grammy-winning 2004 album Go Tell It on the Mountain and from 2014’s Talkin’ Christmas.
Person has her own reasons to look forward to the December concert. “I’m really excited about it as [the Blind Boys of Alabama] were a big part of my introduction to gospel music as a kid when I got to see them live.”
On February 25, 2024, during Black History Month, Free Gospel Sundays celebrates its 15th anniversary with “Music From the Bottom,” a show curated and performed by local artists, including some of gospel’s prominent figures based in South Florida.
“We plan to share a historical perspective of the series as well as celebrate performers who have been a part of it. It will include some of the most celebrated gospel performers who are based here, so it also celebrates the solid gospel community we have here that has been nurtured over the years of Free Gospel Sundays,” says Person.
“Music from the Bottom,” she adds, “references not only the location of our community, but it also suggests that music — and in particular the work of these artists — is uplifting.”
The return of Gospel Fest at the Little Haiti Cultural Center on Sunday, April 21, 2024, wraps up the season, taking the gospel experience offsite once again. Person says the finale is about engaging the local community and envisioning a collaborative effort that will assemble a community choir made up of voices from across the county.
What does the future hold for Free Gospel Sundays? A continued commitment to gospel music for the community, Person promises.
“Free Gospel Sundays has been a means to both celebrate and feed the genre in South Florida as well as to uplift and fortify Black culture and community in Miami,” she says, hoping that by continuing this tradition of celebrating gospel music, “we will not only serve the community that is reflected but introduce the wider community to this important genre.”
For Roberts, “it is prevalent for programming like Free Gospel Sundays to exist because it provides a positive outlet for the community.” Sage believes an event like this in Miami-Dade County opens doors for access, “as it should not be restricted solely to the confines of churches.”
– Jonel Juste, ArtburstMiami.com
Singing in the Streets. 5 p.m. Saturday, October 28, at Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex, 3000 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens; Charles Hadley Park, 1300 NW 50th St., Miami; and Larcenia J. Bullard Plaza, 14508 Lincoln Blvd., Miami. Admission is free.
Free Gospel Sunday. 5 p.m., Sunday, October 29, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 305-949-6722; arshtcenter.org. Admission is free with RSVP.
