BAMBDFest 2025: The Biennial International is a multi-day celebration of the Black Arts Movement Business District, presented by the BAMBD CDC and produced by Lower Bottom Playaz, Inc. This festival commemorates the Black Power Movement and the genesis of its twin movement, the Black Arts Movement, in Black August.

2025 Festival Theme: Inheritance
The stories we have the right to tell
& the stories we have the responsibility to tell.

A New Chapter in Black Arts Placemaking

Under the artistic direction of Ayodele Nzinga, lead curator of BAM House, Calling Up Justice has broken new ground—digitally. On Juneteenth 2025, we began building a Digital Replica of BAM House, creating a hybrid space where memory, art, and innovation intersect. Our Hybrid Digital Placemaking Team—Neurovapor, Skyriver, Michelle Funk, Maiamama, and Claudia Alick—have come together to design the Digital BAMBD, an immersive space that embodies the spirit of the Black Arts Movement while opening new doors for creative experimentation.

The Digital BAMBD is:

• A Living Archive for Black Arts in Oakland.
• A Livestreaming Hub for BAMBDFest programming and beyond.
• A Digital Stage for theatrical experimentation by the Lower Bottom Playaz.

This space is not static—it is a living design project, evolving with each contribution, event, and interaction.

Explore the Digital BAMBD

Below you’ll find a map and descriptions of the spaces built so far. Step inside, celebrate, and help us shape this new digital landmark of Black arts and cultural memory.

The Soul Train will take you to the orientation. The Northstar train will take you to the dramaturgical space for the play we produced a reading of on Juneteeenth. Soultrains in other pats of the campus should take you back to the Black Arts Movement Business District. You can walk down the street to other parts of the encampment. If you get lost in the encampment click on return to lobby.

WELCOME and MARKETPLACE

Welcome to the Festival Grounds! Check in here and leave us a note. Visit the marketplace and check out vendor booths and supporters.

Black Terminus and Black Panther Museum

We toured the Black Arts Movement House and took a walk down Broadway in Oakland. We took pictures of street art, other businesses, and got a feel for the community. Black Terminus is an augmented reality(AR) studio for arts and culture in your pocket. Some of the street art was AR and became videos. The Black Panther Museum was just down the black form BAM House and full of curated history and art.

Central Amphitheater and Pillars

This central amphitheater is a place to access livestream programming. The pillars of the Black Arts Movement Business District Community lead to learning more about the foundational principles of BAMBD, CDC.

BAM House

This replica of the BAM House in Oakland was designed from photos of the space. In the lobby on the left you’ll find the Ancestors Table with playwright in residence August Wilson. Visit the Ticket Table to find out more about performers and the calendar of events. On the right the table holds newspapers and magazines and a carousel with posters to find out about other events. On the rear wall of the lobby check out the sponsor wall and About bambdfest graphic.

Rehearsal Hall and Recording Studio

Take the doors from the lobby to the rehearsal hall with black rehearsal blocks and a playable piano. Take the stairs to the BAM Recording Studio to watch and record BAM House content.

BAM THEATER

Behind the rehearsal jhall you will find an area to warm up food, get a dirink, talk to your collegues To the right is the main theater space. Currently the film festival is in the black box theater. Black Arts Movement Film Fest (BAMFF) is a biennial cultural experience of film screenings, panels, mixers, community and more happening at BAM HOUSE. Founded in 2019, by @shakajamal and @wordslanger BAMFF is a multi-day celebration of Black storytelling through film, held each Black August in Oakland’s Black Arts Movement Business District. BAM Film Fest emerges at the intersection of cultural preservation and radical imagination, using the power of film to spotlight Black life in all its complexity and brilliance.

Join the Journey
– Experience & Shape the Space

The Digital BAMBD will officially open to the public during BAMBDFest 2025 this August. You’re invited to visit the space now, explore, and take part in its creation.

• Visit the space, take a screenshot, and share a positive observation about your Digital BAMBD experience with your community.
• Get a ticket an attend event this month in person and here
• Attend our Thursday morning hybrid placemaking meetings to witness the development in real time.
• Learn & create – Neurovapor is currently offering pixel art classes you can join to contribute your own artistry to the space.

Big thanks to Skyriver for their work in the orientation center, to Neurovapor and Claudia for their design work in BAMBD, to Maiamama for asset management, and the rest of our Hybrid Placemaking team.