The 'magic' of Harlem Week is Lloyd Williams' legacy
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HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) — It’s been 51 years of celebrating the “magic” of Harlem during Harlem Week.
So many people in attendance on the final day were remembering the man who created Harlem Week in 1974. Lloyd Williams passed away earlier this month, but his legacy lives on.
The final weekend of Harlem Week 2025 was filled with great music, delicious food, and a profound love of the Harlem community. Thousands packed a three-block stretch of West 135th Street, with two sound stages, and lots of hugs for old friends newly rediscovered.
“This is a magnificent experience,” Roda Simmons, a Harlem Week attendee, told PIX11 News. “I’m seeing people from my elementary school, from my high school, people I was raised together with in Harlem,” she added.
“It’s an emotional day for us together as a community,” another attendee told PIX11 News.
This is the 51st annual Harlem Week. It is also the first time the 17-day festival was held without its beloved cofounder Lloyd Williams.
He passed away after a battle with cancer at age 80, just as Harlem Week was getting underway. Williams was remembered each and every day by his son, his childhood friend and so many others.
“Dad was all about Harlem,” Ade Williams, Lloyd’s son, told PIX11News. “He wanted Harlem to celebrate self symbolic of a community, not just a geographical location,” he added.
“Harlem’s reputation is the culture capital of Black America,” Voza Rivers, co-founder of Harlem Week and Lloyd’s childhood friend, told PIX11 News. “They want to come to Harlem to see Black culture,” he added.
“This is an amazing legacy of Lloyd Williams,” Crystal Hudson, NYC councilmember, told PIX11 News. “To know that Harlem is coming out in full force to celebrate Lloyd is a beautiful thing,” Hudson added.
The theme of this year‘s Harlem Week was “celebrate our magic” which was so appropriate, as so many people pointed out, because Lloyd Williams always celebrated the magic of his beloved Harlem each and every day.