New Era Planning Association will help people remember a historic black community this weekend with the fifth annual Shake Rag Heritage Festival.

The celebration – which will be from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at RiverWalk Park – will include music, art and entertainment for children and adults, including free inflatables, face painting and games. The Fender Benders are scheduled to perform. A disc jockey will also provide music. Food vendors will sell barbecue, potato chips, hot dogs, fish and soft drinks. T-shirts will also be sold. Local nonprofit organizations will have information booths, and there will be craft booths.

“We’re asking people to bring lawn chairs because seating is limited,” New Era vice president and treasurer Wathetta Buford said.

Another part of the celebration will include New Era Planning surprising honorees with two awards – one for community service and one for leadership.

Located along the north end of State Street and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Shake Rag District developed around Lee Square, a parcel of land donated in 1802 by Bowling Green founder Robert Moore, for use as a public square for black residents. The close-knit community had a network of doctors, churches, schools and businesses.

“We started this festival to commemorate the history and culture of the community that once existed there,” New Era chairwoman Maxine Ray said.

The festival will also feature a history booth set up with pictures and facts about the Shake Rag neighborhood and black history in Bowling Green and Warren County.

“We want to bring back memories of the old African-American neighborhood called Shake Rag,” Buford said. “I never lived in Shake Rag, but I went to school here. It’s very important to me.”

This marks the first year that the Shake Rag Heritage Festival won’t be on the last Saturday in May, Buford said.

“We’ve changed from the last weekend of the month to this weekend because there were a lot of people going out of town during Memorial Day weekend,” she said. “We hope to have more people coming.”

Last year’s festival drew between 500 and 600 people, and Ray hopes it continues to grow.

“We hope to get too big for the park and move to another location in the future,” she said.

Booth space is still available for those who want to participate in the Shake Rag Heritage Festival. Participants are asked to bring a tent, table and chairs.

— For more information, call Ray at 781-5659.