Kwanzaa Crawl is expanding beyond its traditional holiday-season format with its first-ever summer event, set for Saturday, June 6, as the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary.
The new event, called the Family Reunion, will bring thousands of attendees to more than 15 Black-owned venues across four Brooklyn neighborhoods. The gathering will follow the same community-focused model as the annual Kwanzaa Crawl, encouraging patrons to celebrate while supporting local Black-owned businesses through a daylong crawl held rain or shine.
Founded in 2016, Kwanzaa Crawl has grown into one of Brooklyn’s largest cultural events centered on economic empowerment and community building. The crawl was created by sisters Kerry Coddett and Krystal Payne as a way to celebrate the cultures of the Black diaspora while directing financial support to Black-owned businesses throughout New York City.
“We recognize that people associate the event with the holiday season, but entering our tenth year and looking at the state of things in NYC and the country at-large, it’s clear that upholding the principles of Kwanzaa year round and offering more opportunities to operationalize those ideals are more important now than ever before," co-founder Kerry Coddett said. "Collective economic action through joy has always been at the center of what we do. We don’t have to wait until the holiday season to honor that. The more we gather, celebrate and support one another, the stronger our community becomes."
Over the past decade, the event has evolved into a major economic driver for participating businesses, generating more than $3 million in revenue, according to organizers. The annual crawl is traditionally held Dec. 26, the first day of Kwanzaa, and regularly draws thousands of participants from across the city and beyond.
The Family Reunion is intended to extend the principles associated with Kwanzaa year-round, including unity, cooperative economics and collective community support.
As with previous crawls, attendees will not know their full itinerary until after the kickoff on the day of the event. Organizers noted that the summer edition will include options allowing guests with lower mobility to remain at a single venue throughout the day.
The celebration will also include the return of the Buy Black marketplace on May 30 and 31, featuring Black-owned brands, artisans, DJs and community activities.
Tickets for the Family Reunion are available through Kwanzaa Crawl’s official website.
