Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994                   TAG: 9409260041
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAN'T KEEP A GOOD STREET DOWN

The smell of incense wafted through the air as people in colorful African dress strolled by and rap music pounded from huge speakers. T-shirts of Malcolm X and Bob Marley, wooden carvings of African wildlife and tribal masks were for sale.

There were kids with face paint, kids with balloons, crying kids and giggling kids, older kids checking out the other gender, young parents and grandparents, neighbors and friends.

There was a steel drum band, a reggae band, a gospel group and dance troupe. There were barbecued ribs, Caribbean fruit juices and candy apples.

The Henry Street Heritage Festival had everything Saturday, including a mid-afternoon downpour that has become almost part of the tradition of Roanoke's annual celebration of African-American culture.

The only thing missing was Henry Street.

"I don't feel this is real historic," said Travis Allen, 27, who was selling T-shirts. "I feel like it's defeating the purpose for having it on Henry Street, to remember what things were like back then."

This year's festival was in Elmwood Park - a dozen blocks from Henry Street, now First Street Northwest.

The festival originated in 1989 as a celebration of the community that thrived along Henry Street, once the heart of the city's oldest black neighborhood. From the 1920s to 1970s, the area was alive with businesses and jazz clubs, attracting such greats as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.

This year, construction for the Hotel Roanoke and conference center forced the festival's relocation. Organizers have known that eventually they'd have to move the festival, said Melody Stovall, executive director of the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, which sponsors the event.

"We were blessed that it was the fifth year and not the second," she said. The festival has gained a good enough reputation that the move didn't seem to bother most people.

"Today, we've only heard positive," Stovall said.

With its grassy lawns, trees, lily ponds and multiple staging areas, Elmwood Park is more spacious and accommodating. It's also within ambling distance of the Valleydale Harvest Festival on the market, which was going on at the same time.

"There's some more Caucasians here than last year," said Crystal Castle, who is on the Henry Street festival steering committee. In years past, she said, white people seemed hesitant to cross the railroad tracks to Henry Street.

"They wanted to see what it was like, but they ... were intimidated by it being Henry Street," Castle said. This year, there seemed to be an ebb and flow among the two groups of festivalgoers.

Travis Allen said he knew of some black people who were boycotting the festival because of the move. But in general, he said, people are supporting the African-American historical celebration for what it is, no matter where it is.

Stovall said the event should return to Henry Street next year.