Our Story
Keeping the Circuit Alive.
Groove City Culture Fest, also known as the Cambridge Chitlin Circuit Festival, exists to honor the Black music, food, and community traditions that built Maryland's Eastern Shore.
mission
Honor. Elevate. Invest.
The Chitlin' Circuit was a national network of Black-owned venues, from juke joints to dance halls, that gave Black artists stages and audiences during an era when mainstream venues wouldn't. Cambridge, Maryland was one of those stops.
We produce Groove City Culture Fest to pay that legacy forward , by booking, feeding, and paying artists at real festival rates; by putting dollars back into local makers and Black-owned businesses; and by keeping programming free for youth and community members who can't otherwise access it.
This isn't a heritage exhibit. It's a living, loud, present-tense celebration of music we're still making.
Heritage
Rooted in Pine Street.
Pine Street was Cambridge's cultural heartbeat, a corridor of Black-owned businesses, clubs, and churches. We produce programming that connects directly to that legacy.
Community
A Festival That Belongs to Its City.
We hire locally. We hold youth music workshops year-round. We keep a free community lawn. The festival exists to feed the city that gave us the sound.
Culture
Seven Traditions, One Weekend.
Soul, blues, gospel, jazz, hip-hop, brass, and spoken word. All under one sky, across three stages, with the food and makers that travel with them.
Produced by
Groove City Black Heritage & Culture Group Inc
Fan2See Productions is a Black-led music and cultural production company specializing in heritage festivals, artist curation, and community-rooted events across the Mid-Atlantic. Groove City Culture Fest is our flagship weekend.
For partnership or press inquiries, reach out directly and we'll respond within two business days.
impact
What the Weekend Moves.
A snapshot of the economic and cultural footprint of Groove City Culture Fest in its host community.
- $2.1M
- Direct regional spend
- 120+
- Local vendors activated
- 65%
- Artists paid above union scale
- 2,400
- Free youth passes issued