Friday, February 20, 2026

Grammy-Nominated Pasadena Native Angie Fisher to Headline 44th Black History Festival Entertainment

Grammy-nominated singer Angie Fisher will headline the 44th Annual Black History Festival at Robinson Park on Saturday.

The entertainment lineup comes as the community marks one year since the Eaton Fire devastated Altadena’s neighborhoods

Angie Fisher, a Pasadena native who built a career backing Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey before earning a Grammy nod for her 2014 single “I.R.S.,” will headline the 44th Annual Black History Festival at Robinson Park on Saturday.

The festival, which runs from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 1081 North Fair Oaks Avenue returns with an expanded entertainment program and the revival of the classic car show — canceled last year — as the community continues to recover from the Eaton Fire.

Grand Marshal Walt Butler, a former Pasadena City College track and field champion who lost his Altadena home of more than 60 years in the fire, will lead the day’s festivities.

The festival dates back 44 years to when two Pasadena Parks and Recreation Department staffers, Toy McCoy and Roy Hayes, organized the first celebration. Kenneth James, the department’s recreation administrator, said the festival’s continuity matters even more after the fire.

“When Pasadena brought in the freeway, through the middle of the heart of the black community, we lost a lot,” James said in an interview with the Los Angeles Sentinel. “Now you have this fire that devastated a large part of the black community. And for us not to continue something like this, it’s like something else would be lost.”

James said he was personally affected. “It’s near and dear to me because I was part of the loss in Altadena,” he said.

Fisher, who grew up in Pasadena and has worked as a session vocalist for artists including Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, and Chaka Khan, was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015 for “I.R.S.” She will be joined by performers Candace Lacy, Tanya DeCuir, Judah Lacy, Aretha Scruggs, and Courtney Lindsey, who performs as SunWhoa.

Butler, the Grand Marshal, won the state junior college championship in the 120-yard high hurdles at Pasadena City College in 1962 and was inducted into the PCC Sports Hall of Fame in 2023 and the USA Track and Field Master’s Hall of Fame in 2014. He has owned Walter Butler Shoes in Pasadena since 1979. Dell and Dudley Stewart, married 70 years, will serve as Community Grand Marshals, and three local students — Adonis Moret, Jacob Chisanga Price, and Olivia Trujillo-Jamison — were named Youth Grand Marshals as recipients of the Black American Youth Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy and Achievement Awards.

James Farr, host of the radio program Conversation Live: Altadena Rising, will emcee the event, which also features youth performances by local middle and high school students, food trucks, and community resource booths.

The 44th Annual Black History Festival takes place Saturday, February 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Robinson Park, 1081 North Fair Oaks Avenue. Admission is free. Parking is available on surrounding streets and in the park lot. For more information, call (626) 744-7311 or visit:

cityofpasadena.net/event/black-history-festival/. Volunteers can sign up at tinyurl.com/BHPVolunteers.

Sponsors include the Pasadena Parks and Recreation Foundation, the Tournament of Roses, the Pasadena Management Association, and Pasadena City College.