24 Years Strong: Winter Park Festival Celebrates Community

When Robert Knight started the Unity Heritage Festival 24 years ago with nothing but clip art and a dream, he thought it would be a one-time summer project. Today, it stands as Winter Park's most cherished annual tradition, transforming a simple two-hour Martin Luther King Jr. program into a weekend-long celebration of heritage, connection, and hope.

The festival returns this weekend to Shady Park and the Winter Park Community Center, where families can enjoy live music, food vendors, bounce houses, and community resources completely free of charge. But the heart of the event goes much deeper than entertainment.

Knight grew up on Winter Park's west side, where everyone called each other cousins. That sense of family inspired something extraordinary: a genealogy project that traces prominent families through generations, helping young people understand exactly where they came from and who their relatives really are.

"We wanted everyone to know exactly who their brothers, sisters and cousins are so they can feed off of whatever knowledge or experiences they've had," Knight explains. It's about creating a stronger community by understanding the roots that connect them.

The Hannibal Square Heritage Center partners with the festival to showcase the Heritage Collection, a permanent display of donated photographs documenting African American life in Winter Park before desegregation. Visitors can walk through history told by the community itself, with narratives and stories that preserve memories and honor contributions often overlooked.

The Ripple Effect

What started as a way to extend a brief MLK celebration has become a gathering place where generations swap stories, local businesses connect with neighbors, and young people discover their identity through family history. The festival doesn't just celebrate the past; it actively builds bridges to the future.

Jasmine Harris, manager of the Hannibal Square Heritage Center, sees how these connections matter. When people understand their shared authority in telling their own stories, they create something lasting. When children learn about the achievements of those who came before them, they carry that strength forward.

This year's festival moves indoors to escape the cold weather, but the warmth comes from something climate can't touch. It comes from 24 years of showing up, from neighbors treating each other as family, from honoring contributions that built a community.

Knight never expected his summer project to last nearly a quarter century, but that's what happens when you create something real: it grows roots of its own.