Bronzeville Vendor Fair and Wildflower Music Festival
Join us on June 21, 2025, from 10 a.m.–9 p.m. for the third annual Bronzeville Vendor Fair and Wildflower Music Festival. This outdoor vendor market and bazaar takes place on 33rd Boulevard between Michigan Avenue and State Street. Shop among the area’s finest merchants, makers, and artists. Dance to the music provided by Greater Bronzeville musicians and vocalists. Bring the entire family—there is something for everyone including a bouncy house where you will supervise your kids! Are you a merchant or maker and interested in vending? Please complete the following .
Free parking is available along Michigan Avenue and in ƵAPP parking lots D1, D2, and D4, which are accessible from 34th and State streets when traveling northbound.
The Wildflower Music Festival stage (noon–9:45 p.m.) will feature Chicago’s most well-loved and popular musical artists. , also known as the Bronzeville Diva, will host the events on the Wildflower stage. Gill is a renowned, multi-awarded jazz vocalist, music activist, youth mentor, and founder of The Chicago Living Legacy Awards.
The Office of Community Affairs has partnered with to make this event accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. The equipment is being loaned by Cultural Access Collaborative with special thanks to the Chicago Academy of Sciences and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Festival sponsors include , , , , , Stuart School of Business, and the Bronzeville Diva.
Headlining acts for the Bronzeville Vendor Fair and Wildflower Music Festival include:
Zahra
is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS). Zahra has received prestigious accolades such as the 2023 Golden Peace Fellowship, the 3Arts Make a Wave award, and the 2024 Elastic Arts Foundation Dark Matter Arts Residency. She has showcased her talents at major venues including the World Music Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, and countless storytelling festivals across the country.
Zion Ali
is a powerhouse vocalist, dynamic performer, and youth advocate using music to inspire and unite. His album I Believe In Youth empowers the next generation, while his breakout single “Make It Through” serves as a rallying cry for resilience. Zion’s rocked major stages such as Englewood Music Festival, the Bud Billiken Parade, and the UniverSoul Circus, leaving crowds energized and inspired. More than an artist, Zion is a movement—proving that music can change lives.
Greg Penn (CrossWind)
Greg Penn formed his band in 1991 performing Latin Jazz, Salsa, Jazz, and R&B throughout Chicago in venues and festivals. He’s built and established a sound that he would become known for creating stirring percussion sounds and vocals that were vibrant and stimulating, bringing audiences to their feet to dance and linger within the Afro Cuban beats. As a sustainable, well-known band, CrossWind enjoys performing at festivals, weddings, local venues, special events, and clubs around Chicago.
Sarita Harrington
, a Chicago native, comes from a rich musical lineage. Her father played drums for blues legend Magic Sam, her brothers play guitar and bass, and her son plays the trombone. Sarita is proficient on piano and flute. She has sung in church choirs, talent shows, and bands throughout her youth. After vocal cord damage sidelined her for a decade, she returned to singing with encouragement from her brother, Walter (bass) and son, Royce (trombone). Sarita’s blues roots run deep, thanks to her father’s influence. She has performed alongside notable musicians including Theodis Roger’s, Mike Ross, Charles Heath III, Vance Kelly, Randy Johnson, KB Evans, and Marqueal Jordan.
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, has a goal to redefine the image of music through her lyrical diversity while transmitting her life experiences, pains, and triumphs through her voice and artistry. She’s trained in classical, jazz, opera, gospel, and has vast experience in Hip-Hop and R&B. Ա’k is presently featured in Bronzeville The Musical with the Mahdi Theater Company (2024–2025) presently touring in the Midwest and at the Apollo Theater in New York.
Zemrah
, jazz songstress, is blessed with a smooth and sultry sound. She hails from the rich musical jazz town of Chicago where her deep love of musical expression was cultivated. She was selected as the “Crown Royal Female Vocalist of the Year.” She has opened for musical greats Nancy Wilson and Kurt Elling. She continues headlining shows where Zemrah produces her annual signature event, “Here’s To Life” concert at Prairie State College’s Main Auditorium, working with a host of great musicians locally and nationally. To date, she has three CD’s entitled, Irresistible Zemrah, Very Irresistible Zemrah and her latest CD, Love is Possible. Zemrah hosts a weekly Podcast entitled Here’s To Life with Zemrah on Intellectual Radio every Tuesday from 6–7 p.m.
Thaddeus Tukes
, named a 2024 Downbeat Magazine “Rising Star,” composer and percussionist, is one of the most dynamic musicians in America. Presented as the “World’s Best Vibraphonist” by World Expo 2020 in Dubai, his virtuosity and creativity “brings poetry to the vibraphone” (Chicago Tribune, 2019) which has captivated audiences around the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, Symphony Center in Chicago, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. As one of Chicago’s hidden gems by CBS 2023, Thaddeus honors the legacy of the Jazz tradition and beyond.
Robert Irving III
completes a distinguished lineage of post-bop pianists/composers who collaborated with the legendary Miles Davis. As a musician and producer on five Grammy Award nominated projects, Irving worked closely with Sting, Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter, Ramsey Lewis, Billy Joel, Terri Lyne Carrington, Diane Reeves, David Murray, Doudou N’Diaye Rose, Regina Carter, and Gary Bartz to name a few. He is a mentor with the Jazz Institute of Chicago since 2004 and former managing creative director for the School of Jazz at the Chicago Academy of Music Conservatory. He is currently completing his memoir, Harmonic Possibilities of which excerpts were recently published by New York University’s Black Renaissance Noire Magazine. As music director and a member at Olivet Baptist Church since 2002, Irving’s ability to traverse the jazz and gospel music mirrors the path of Thomas Dorsey, the father of Gospel music who had 400 secular recordings while he was a member of Olivet Baptist Church. Irving is the founder Sonic Portraits Jazz Inc., recently reformed as a not-for-profit organization to support artists and educate audiences.
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