WHAT: Phoenix Fest

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday

WHERE: On Fayetteville Street between Lakewood Avenue and Piedmont Avenue

ADMISSION: Free

By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

DURHAM -- Phoenix Fest takes its name from the figure from Egyptian myth, the bird that rises from its own ashes to begin another life cycle. The annual festival seeks of honor the legacy of Hayti, one of the state's oldest African-American communities, a place of entrepreneurship, culture and the arts -- while also looking forward to a new era for Hayti.

Saturday will mark the eighth annual Phoenix Fest, which begins with the traditional parade that will start at 9 a.m. on Fayetteville Street at Elmira Avenue.

The route will end at Piedmont Avenue, after which Fayetteville Street between Piedmont and Lakewood Avenues will be closed for a day of performances and vendor booths.

This year's parade will have a number of marching bands, including a "perennial favorite," the band from Hillside High School, said Phoenix Fest organizer Denise Hester. Another band signed on to participate is N Full Motion Marching Stallions, from Baltimore.

Various community groups -- the Red Hatters, Sertoma, churches, step groups, motorcycle clubs and others -- also will be marching in the parade.

Vendors will have food and merchandise for sale.

The vendors are an important part of the festival, because they remind visitors of the business legacy of Hayti, "the business ethic that was located here," Hester said. The musicians and other artists who were active in Hayti also reflected that business ethic, because they, too, were entrepreneurs, she said.

Bobby Hinton, also a favorite of the festival, will perform this year. Hinton, a pianist and vocalist, can be heard playing blues and jazz at various local events. At Phoenix Fest this year he will perform a tribute to the late Ray Charles.

Kerr Drug, one of the festival sponsors, will offer free blood sugar and blood pressure screenings.

Hester notes that the festival is family friendly, with "plenty of game areas for children that are divided by age."

Because Phoenix Festival is a literal street festival, it is also handicapped-accessible, she said.