THANK YOU!

The Wake Up the Earth Festival was born on land that was cleared for a highway. When the communities of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury started a grassroots movement with the South-West Corridor Coalition to stop  Interstate 95 from cutting through their neighborhoods, they reclaimed that cleared earth and turned it into a farm, a festival, and a tradition now 48 years strong. Every first Saturday in May, thousands return to this space to dance, parade, create, and celebrate our neighborhood's history of activism, expression, and inclusion. Art is how we build and empower our community.

Jamaica Plain’s Community Arts Headquarters who created Wake Up The Earth Festival!

Website: www.SpontaneousCelebrations.org

Located at 45 Danforth Street, Jamaica Plain, MA

Spontaneous Celebrations grew out of the grassroots movement that stopped a raised highway from cutting through Roxbury and Jamaica Plain — an act of climate justice that reclaimed the land for the community. The founders built not just a space, but a set of values: that art is how communities build resilience, find their voice, and empower the people. That vision lives on today in everything Spontaneous Celebrations does — from the Wake Up The Earth Festival and Lantern Parade, to weekly community classes, to a year-round gathering place for everyone in the community to meet, support, and grow.

Wake Up The Earth Festival Art Workshops are most Friday nights at Spontaneous Celebrations art and community center leading up to the festival on May 2nd 2026. Spontaneous Celebrations hosts Friday night potlucks, art workshops, dance parties, and other events with the intention to strengthen and empower our neighborhoods. Bring a dish or treat to share, get to know your neighbors, create festival art, and be part of a 48 year tradition of creativity, activism, and community.