Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The fourth annual Riverfront Soul Festival featured particularly strong attendance on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Barrett’s Landing Park in Franklin, with a good turnout as well at the Worship Experience on Sunday, Oct. 6, at New Life Church Global, also in Franklin.

Festival organizer Dr. Eric Majette, who is also senior pastor at NLCG, indicated that the festival went well overall, estimating that it drew possibly a thousand people across both days.

“I’m very pleased with Saturday,” he said. “The turnout was great, the vendors were great, the food trucks were great. The entertainment was unimaginable, it was just unbelievable. The whole production was great on Saturday.”

The festival began Saturday with a Health and Wellness Fair. 

Majette had noted that Eastern Virginia Medical School would be on hand, along with some other organizations doing health screenings. 

“They kicked it off, and they had a great response from my understanding,” he said Tuesday, Oct. 8.

He had also indicated that a collaboration of food trucks would be present.

“All the food vendors had a great response,” he said Tuesday.

The music festival began later in the afternoon, featuring a variety of acts that performed Gospel, R&B and jazz.

The closing act of the night was the Frankie Beverly & Maze Tribute Band, and Majette said a lot of people came out to Barrett’s Landing for that performance.

The Riverfront Soul Festival Worship Experience took place from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sunday at NLCG, and Majette said that this too drew a significant crowd.

“That was a great turnout there,” he said. “That was definitely amazing. The church was great. A lot of folks came in from out of town to the church.”

On Sunday afternoon, the festival shifted back to Barrett’s Landing Park for the Soul Food & Seafood Food Truck Expo, which was a new feature of the festival.

Majette indicated that this event was not as successful, but he already has ideas for next year.

“One of the things that we’re going to do for next year — we’re going to incorporate a bike show as well as a car show,” he said. “We’re not going to do it at the same time as Franklin does theirs, but we’re going to be incorporating some other things next year to try to drive that Sunday up.”

The festival handed out a Community Impact Award to Elite Home Health Care.