Fall Fest

This year's annual family-friendly festival took place on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at Central Library. The day included a fireside chat and Q&A with 16 year-old author and activist, Yolanda Renee King, the only grandchild of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King and Anais Briscoe-Beuoy, a local youth leader and poet and Regional Scholastic Writing Award Winner.

Her new book We Dream A World is a call for unity and equality and is inspired by Langston Hughes’s seminal poem I Dream A World. Yolanda Renee King is leading a new generation of modern activists. Though Yolanda never met her grandfather, she is galvanizing countless young people to stand up and speak out on a range of issues affecting the world today. She represents and embodies this year’s Fall Fest theme, “Courage”. King will engage in conversation with Anais Briscoe-Beuoy, a local youth leader and poet and Regional Scholastic Writing Award Winner.

In addition to Kings’ talk, local youth performed their winning entries from this year’s Slammin' Rhymes Challenge, a contest for poets, rappers, and spoken word artists in grades 6-12. The event also featured performances by the Sirlimitless dance group, Actors Ink Theatre Company, Rightntight Fitness with Ms Sylvia, the Chicago Boyz acrobatic team, and poet Mariah Ivey.

Video Highlights from Fall Fest 2024

Local stories about the event:

• WRTV 6 Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter carries on his legacy, hopes to inspire Indy youth

• Indianapolis Recorder - Martin Luther King, Jr.’s only grandchild talks about life as a teen activist

We look forward to seeing you at Fall Fest 2025!

This event was free and open to the public and made possible by The Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund and J. Steve & Donna D. Talley Fund through gifts to The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.