With just three weeks to go, the curtains are parting a bit on the African-American Heritage Festival.
For weeks, organizers have tried to keep plans under wraps - feeding speculation among city officials and sponsors that the event was in trouble. But festival organizers announced Friday that they have booked top musical performers for the event, which will be held June 21 to 23 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Festival officials said they just wanted to build excitement about the acts: R&B; singer/songwriter Erykah Badu, soul music singer/songwriter Brian McKnight and R&B; group Frankie Beverly and Maze.
They also said they delayed their announcement for weeks because of a rash of news reports about terrorist threats. They did not want the event associated with renewed fears about the dangers of large public gatherings, said David Geller, co-chairman of the entertainment committee.
"We made a tactical decision to not announce at that time," he said.
Because the festival is free, Geller said, organizers felt that a lot of notice was not needed to draw the 100,000 visitors they expect.
Geller said they are trying to schedule two other big-name entertainers, but said those performers had just heard about the festival within the past 10 days and offered to participate. He declined to name them.
More than 25 local acts will perform, including jazz combos, gospel choirs and dance troupes. Educational and historical exhibits will highlight African-American and Caribbean culture.
The festival replaces AFRAM, a cultural event launched in 1976 that attracted more than 100,000 at its height. The quality of that festival declined, and its crowds dwindled to fewer than 15,000. Last year, Mayor Martin O'Malley suspended AFRAM and recruited Kweisi Mfume, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to lead efforts to create a replacement event.
At a news conference Friday, Mfume said festival organizers have raised about $300,000 - $100,000 of which came from the city - and expect to raise $450,000 before the event is over. That is less than they had hoped, but more than most festivals come up with in their first year, he said.
"Our theme this year is 'Come see who we are,'" Mfume said. "We think that once people do, they will share in our pride and share in the potential of this wonderful festival."