Sun Ra Day Festival 2025: Birmingham Honors a Cosmic Pioneer

On Memorial Day Weekend, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, becomes the center of the Modern Jazz universe—literally and figuratively—as the world celebrates the 111th birthday of one of its most legendary cultural figures, Sun Ra. Running from May 21–24, 2025, the Sun Ra Day Festival will transform the Magic City into a vibrant hub of Afrofuturistic sound, art, and thought. With immersive multimedia experiences, historical performances, and community-driven programming, this is more than just a festival—it’s a spiritual homecoming. The Festival organizer Lee Shook gave The Music Origins Project an exclusive preview of what the city has planned for the Festival.

The Sun Ra Day Festival: From Birmingham to the Cosmos

Born Herman Poole Blount in 1914, Sun Ra was raised in Birmingham’s Black working-class neighborhoods. A child prodigy, he developed a love for music early, leading big bands while still in high school. Fusing jazz with outer space philosophy and ancient Egyptian myth, Sun Ra pioneered, Afrofuturism, a visionary movement that reimagines Black identity beyond Earth’s boundaries. He pioneered in the use of electronic instruments like the Moog, and was among the first to create and incorporate film, unique lighting effects like his Outerspace Visual Communicator (OVC), vivid costuming and dance into his avant-jazz performances. His influential Sun Ra Arkestra ensemble would go on to tour the world challenging the very definition of music, performance, and spiritual jazz expression.

“This celebration is about bringing Sun Ra back home—to honor where it all began and to ensure his legacy continues to uplift future generations of artists and dreamers.”

Lee Shook, festival organizer / music journalist

Festival Highlights: A Journey Through Space, Time, and Sound

Wednesday, May 21

Sidewalk Cinema Presents: Space Is The Place + Rare Sun Ra Memorial Service Footage at 7 pm $15 (TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE AND AT VENUE)
House of Found Objects After Party with Sweet Wreath at 10 pm (FREE)

Thursday, May 22

Seasick Records Albums + Poster Signing at 12 pm
Educational Program TBA at Saturn
Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame Presents: Sun Ra Day Celebration feat. Sun Ra’s Arkestra Live at the Carver Theatre + Cassandra Griffen Photo Exhibit at 8pm – PURCHASE TICKETS
Sun Ra Day After Party at Saturn feat. Vishnu, Davis & Haleigh + Kirkos at 10:30 pm (FREE) at 10:30 pm
Sun Ra Arkestra Meet & Greet from 7-7:30 pm at Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (FOR CONCERT TICKET HOLDERS ONLY)

Friday, May 23

Education Panel: Sun Ra in The Magic City feat. Members of the Arkestra, Cassandra Griffen and Burgin Mathews 1-2 pm at Saturn (FREE)- As part of the upcoming Sun Ra Day Festival listen to members of Sun Ra’s Arkestra talk about the legendary bandleader’s relationship with the Magic City alongside photographer and longtime friend of the Arkestra, Cassandra Griffen, as well as local music writer, radio host and Birmingham jazz historian Burgin Mathews from The Lost Child and Southern Music Research Center. The panel will be led by Lee Shook from The Audiovore and Earth Libraries and is free and open to the public.
The Nick Presents: An Evening with The Arkestra – PURCHASE TICKETS

Saturday, May 24

East Village Arts Presents: Craig Legg’s “Ark In Town: Paintings of Sun Ra Arkestra Past and Present” Exhibit + Sun Ra Art Collective + Moon Stew Pot Luck + The Shure Shot DJs (DJ Rahdu and DJ Suaze) and The Audiovore 11 am-2 pm $10 (TICKETS AVAILABLE AT DOOR)

Why It Matters Now

Events serve as fundraisers for local arts venues—many of which are struggling to survive in today’s economic climate. Supporting this festival means supporting Birmingham’s creative future.

Sun Ra used his music not only to spread love and unity but as a platform for political expression speaking in coded language to hide its true intent due to the polarized times that he lived in. In a time of cultural division and financial instability, celebrating artists like Sun Ra reminds us of the boundless power of imagination, unity, Black creativity and political activism to empower and uplift marginalized groups. The Sun Ra Festival not only honors his legacy but also uplifts the spaces and people carrying that torch forward.

Rare Red Hot + Ra Vinyl Available Exclusively At The Festival

The Red Hot Organization’s Red Hot + Ra series is one of the most compelling contemporary tributes to the cosmic jazz pioneer Sun Ra in recent years. Spanning multiple volumes, the series reimagines Sun Ra’s avant-garde compositions through the lens of modern artists, blending genres and cultures to celebrate his enduring influence. Notable entries include Nuclear War (Featuring artists like Irreversible Entanglements, Georgia Ann Muldrow, Angel Bat Dawid, and MoonMedicin feat Sanford Biggers), Solar (a Brazilian jazz homage feat Béco Dranoff producer of Red Hot and Rio), and Red Hot & Ra, Outer Spaceways Incorporated Kronos Quartet and Friends Meet Sun Ra, and The Magic City by Meshell Ndegeocello. Each offers a unique interpretations that honors Sun Ra’s legacy while introducing his work to new audiences while raising funds to support a variety of worthy non profit causes. If you visit the festival, albums from this groundbreaking series will be available for sale at Seasick Records. This is a rare opportunity to get your vinyl signed by members of the Arkestra at Sun Ra Day events… so don’t miss out.

Signed Album Auction for Outer Spaceways Incorporated: Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra

📅 Silent Auction Opens: May 21 | Ends: May 24, 2025
📩 Bids accepted via COMMENTS on the Red Hot Organization’s Instagram (@RedHotOrg)
🔗 Auction details available in their Instagram Highlights

Listen to the Red Hot + Ra Series on Spotify:

The Historic Locations

The Nick: A Historic Space for Sonic Exploration

One of the festival’s key venues, The Nick, is a Birmingham institution in its own right. Founded in 1980, the dive bar-turned-legendary venue has hosted iconic acts like The Ramones, Black Flag, and The Flaming Lips. Its gritty, no-frills stage has long served as a launchpad for music that defies convention—making it a fitting home for Sun Ra’s avant-garde legacy. On May 23, the Sun Ra Arkestra will light up The Nick with a genre-bending performance that reaffirms Sun Ra’s message: music is a force for liberation. VISIT LOCATION

The Alabama Jazz Hall OF Fame

A key venue for the Sun Ra Festival is the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, a cornerstone of Birmingham’s cultural identity and a fitting stage for honoring one of the city’s most visionary musicians. Founded in 1978 by educator and musician J.L. Lowe in partnership with the National Black Cultural Society and city leaders like Richard Arrington, the Hall of Fame was created to honor and preserve Birmingham’s rich jazz legacy. The first induction ceremony celebrated local legends such as Erskine Hawkins, John T. “Fess” Whatley, and Frank Adams—many of whom had direct ties to Sun Ra’s musical lineage and influence.

Since then, the Hall of Fame has inducted over 245 musicians and found a permanent home in the beautifully restored Carver Theatre, located in Birmingham’s historic Civil Rights District. Just steps away from landmarks like the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the venue serves as both a museum and a living classroom. It’s a powerful location for Sun Ra’s birthday performance, linking the city’s musical innovation to its broader legacy of cultural resistance, education, and empowerment. VISIT LOCATION

Support the Cause: Help Keep the Vision Alive

The Music Origins Project is proud to support and promote events like the Sun Ra Festival. Nonprofit events like this rely on your generosity to continue documenting and preserving the global history of music in Alabama. If Sun Ra’s vision has ever moved you—or if you believe in the transformative power of music— donate to help the Sun Ra Day Festival today so they can continue their work bringing the music and unifying message of Sun Ra to Alabama and the world.

Big thanks to Lee Shook for his work bringing the legacy of Sun Ra back to his home in Birmingham, and for sharing this preview of the event with the Music Origins Project. Are you planning to attend the festival or hosting your own celebration of Sun Ra Day? Share your stories and tag us on Instagram or Twitter using #SunRaFestival2025 and #MusicOriginsProject.

Sun Ra Day Festival 2025: Birmingham Honors a Cosmic Pioneer