The Boston Neighborhood Project

The Wake Up The Earth Festival is held in Jamaica Plain (JP) annually on the first Saturday of May. It is sponsored by Spontaneous Celebrations, a local cultural and arts group, who describe the event as follows: “The Wake Up the Earth Festival began in 1979 when a group of local neighbors and activist banded together to stop the Interstate 95 expansion into Jamaica Plain. The festival began as, and still is, a celebration of what can be accomplished when people of all traditions, cultures, ages, and beliefs come together.”

The festival attracts up to 10,000 people each year and includes a parade, day long performances on four outdoor stages and up to 50 craft and non-profit and vendors.

These images of the 2007 and 2009 festivals are intended to show the diversity and the exuberance of the Jamaica Plain community. Jamaica Plain has a very comfortable feel, a highly diverse racial and multi-cultural mix and an international flavor with a large Hispanic community. This neighborhood has million dollar homes on the same street as public housing developments, a sizable gay and lesbian community and is home to many non-traditional families. The large artist and student populations in JP give it a youthful feel and the many events, life the Wake Up The Earth Festival, provide numerous opportunities for JP to exhibit it’s welcoming and inclusive character.