Sunflowers, golden bronzed skin, maxi dresses, and Afros. What more does a clack girl need?
Oh yes, CurlFest! The festival that allows a black girl to inhale and exhale their natural beauty successfully, launched their sixth annual event. The founders of Curly Girl Collective, five women who also helped pass the CROWN Act(the Create a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair legislation) with Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright of Bedford Stuyvesant, created a space that celebrates and embraces the clack woman, one Afro at a time.
This year the popular festival was held at Randall’s Island and it was filled to capacity. Over 100,000 natural and curly-haired women from all over the world made their way to CurlFest NY. Lines and more lines were worthy, not only for the free hair and body products but all the beauty of “Africanness” that made people watching an act of delight and exultation.
Celebrities and top influencers graced the stage for panels, with some of the celebpreneurs launching their new product lines during the festivities. Love and Hip Hop star and media mogul, Yandy Smith, promoted her new skincare line, Yelle Skin Care, alongside her LHHHNY cast member and makeup guru, Jonathan Fernandez.
On Day Two of CurlFest, the Roller Set event was hosted at the LeFrak Skating Rink at Prospect Park in Brooklyn and sponsored by TARGET. The unspoken throwback theme was 80’s and Afros, as the natural crowned participants skated and played in a colorful ball pit, while top New York DJs’ kept everyone moving.
The mission of the founders, Tracey Coleman, Melody Henderson, Charisse Higgins, Gia Lowe, and Simone Muir was to be a change in the beauty industry and showcase the beauty that has long been ignored. The message from the Curly Girl Collective is growing and now has expanded to events in South Africa, Afro & Beats, a private brunch followed by a natural hair rooftop party and their first CurlFest in Atlanta this fall.
Visit the CurlFest website for more information on future events.
Photos and article by Jovanna Reyes