'Happy to be here': joyous Harlem Week celebrations continue

 HARLEM, N.Y. (PIX11) -- For some people, Harlem should be celebrated 365 days a year.

 But this week, in particular, there are celebrations galore uptown.

 It’s Harlem Week.

And there was such a joyous night in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.

It’s a free SummerStage dance party attended by more than 2,000 people. The Soapbox Presents produced it to celebrate the brilliance of black and brown people.

“This started in June 2020 at the height of the pandemic,” Mariya Abney, the Soapbox Presents Creator, told PIX11 News. “It was a call for community and a response to the social unrest and the murder of George Floyd. This was my answer to that.”

 So many concertgoers were dancing in the aisles.

“It’s amazing, any time there’s a collection of African-American people and good vibrations,” Dajia Wilson, a concertgoer, told PIX11 News. “It’s beautiful.” 

Her friend Geo Cervantes agreed. “The musicians and the music are really good. I'm just happy to be here. I love it.” she added.

As part of Harlem Week, Evetta Petty designed a hat fashion show.

Her store, Harlem’s Heaven Hats, has been at 147th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard for 35 years.

“I just got back from England, where I was at the Ascot Millinery Collective,” Evetta Petty, the hat designer, told PIX11 News. “I was the only American invited and the first black milliner ever.”

The legacy models have been strutting their stuff since Harlem Week began in 1974.

This time around, they chose their own clothes to model.

Inez Robinson modeled a beautiful red dress she designed herself on her website.

“I believe that women over 50 are forever fabulous, which is my brand,” Robinson told PIX11 News.

Besides blocks and blocks of vendors on 135th Street, there are more musical acts on Sunday for the last day of Harlem Week.

“There will be three stages and several bands and Broadway shows performing,” Marko Nobles, the second Vice Chair of Harlem Week, told PIX11 News.