The festival will take place in the park June 18 and 19.
The Forrests remains are still in Health Sciences Park though the bronze equestrian monument honoring the once slave-trader who presided over the slaughter of Black Union Army soldiers was removed in December 2017.
The removal of the monument came after more than a year of protests lead by grassroots group #TakeEmDown901 and after a city council vote secured the sale of Health Sciences Park to Memphis Greenspace Inc. The sale allowed officials to bypass Tennessee laws that prohibited the removal of such monuments.
The pandemic forced the celebration to go virtual in 2020, though an informal celebration formed Downtown at the I Am A Man Plaza outside Clayborn Temple after weeks of protests in Memphis spurred by the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
After removal, communities must face the enormous challenge of remaking divisive public spaces into places that promote healing and reconciliation. We suggest that communities confronting these issues and seeking a way forward look at the recent experience in the city of Memphis.
As part of a national, multicity effort, a collaboration of public and non-profit partners in Memphis has transformed a six-city block area adjacent to downtown and the Mississippi River called the Fourth Bluff into a series of connected, vibrant and dynamic spaces that include a library, a trail and two parks. This transformation included changing the names of parks and the dramatic removal of Confederate monuments, but the work didn’t stop there.
Relocation costs will be paid by Memphis Greenspace.
The Tennessee Historical Commission was notified of the reinternment, in accordance with state statutes.
Descendants, about five family members in Forrest s and Mary Ann Montgomery Forrest s lineage, have been seeking a final resting spot for Forrest s remains for a few years.
Because no known person has a right or easement to the burial ground, which is now a park, the Shelby County court has jurisdiction in relocating the graves. The November court order also terminates the use of Health Sciences Park as a burial ground.
The descendants named in the suit and Memphis Greenspace agreed to relocate the remains to Columbia in a previous May settlement.