Frank Whitney strolls through Charlotte’s Freedom Park, shaking hands with volunteers setting up tents and canopies for this weekend’s big arts event: Festival in the Park. A few hundred artists and performers will soon fill the grounds.
Nearby a man is blowing leaves off a sidewalk. A few ducks swim across the park’s glassy lake.
The park is peaceful at this early hour, and Whitney has a spring in his step.
"I kind of grew up in this park," he said, smiling. "We lived 10 minutes away, and we’d ride our bikes here all the time."
Founded by a father
Whitney is a U.S. district judge. He also has roots in this park that go as deep as the oak trees around him.
Across a bridge on a small island in the lake, he walks up to a weathered bust of a man on a pedestal.
This is a statue of his father.
Carved into the base is the name A. Grant Whitney. Sixty years ago, this man with a narrow face and suit jacket and tie organized the first Festival in the Park.
"He had the energy of 10 men. I mean, he was just that way," Whitney recalled.
The year was 1964. Whitney’s father was working for the future mayor of Charlotte, John Belk, who was then head of the Belk department stores.
Belk asked Whitney’s dad to create an arts festival that could bring Charlotte together at a time when the Civil Rights Movement was roiling cities around the nation.
"The whole concept was to have a wonderful outdoor event and make it as affordable — and really free — so that parents who might have two or three or four kids can have a connection to their community," Whitney said.
The festival started in 1964 with 10 tents
That first year, Whitney was 3-and-a-half years old, he said, "and my mother hated bringing me out here, because one of the first things I did was fall in the lake."
It wasn’t too far from where he now stands. He points to the water’s edge.
"Do you see the stone wall that defines the lake? OK — that little stone wall did not exist. It was just dirt running into the water."
He remembers running around like toddlers do, "and suddenly I found myself in water," he said, laughing.
The festival started that year with 10 tents. As the years went on, it grew larger and Whitney became more involved as a volunteer and performer.
"I was a magician for a couple Festivals in the Park, and I dressed up as a clown when I was about 10 years old," he recalled.
As the festival evolved, so did the park
In the mid-'70s, Whitney remembers his father raising money to build the park’s bandshell.
In 1989, he remembers how his dad told everyone to pack up Thursday night as Hurricane Hugo barreled toward the city.
"The next morning they came out here and panelboards were blown away, pennants and all that. Everything was all over the place. It was just crazy," he said.
That year, he said people called it “Festival in the Dark.”
In 1992, Whitney took over for his father as festival president, and began installation of the park’s underground electrical system — think dozens of electrical outlets buried in the dirt.
He also remembers the 2000s, when the park was dominated by huge flocks of Canada geese that would leave droppings everywhere.
"We’d have people out here cleaning the sidewalk at, you know, 6 a.m.," he remembers with a grimace.
Keeping memories alive
Whitney stepped down as president in early 2000s. He’s now on the board of directors.
His father died in 1996. In his final years, Whitney says the family brought his dad to the park just before the festival opened.
"All of the operations staff, all of the people who knew him were in tears seeing him, because they knew it was the last time they were going to see him," he said.
Part of keeping this festival alive is for the memories it evokes for people all over Charlotte. For Whitney, part of it is also keeping a piece of his father alive.
And perhaps this weekend, as the festival celebrates its 60th anniversary, you might see a statue near the edge of the lake nod and smile.
