Where to Watch 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival TV special — The Original Summer of Soul
When the documentary film Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) came out last year I was blown away. Here was footage that had been rarely seen since 1969, featuring amazing performances from Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Sly and the Family Stone, and so many more.
Like many people, I hadn’t heard of the Harlem Cultural Festival before seeing the documentary, but I went in search of more. I found a stack of information, and thankfully some more footage along the way too. Because the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival was televised, with two one-hour-long TV specials produced in 1969, and one of them has even been available online since 2019 for everyone to watch.
Harlem Festival (1969)
The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival ran from June 29 — August 24 across six Sundays and was recorded for later broadcast. The first was shown by CBS on July 28, 1969 while the festival was still running, and featured highlights from the first days concert on June 29.
