Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Ashes to Anthems Returns as a Full-Day Juneteenth Gathering for Altadena Fire Survivors

[photo credit: Ashes to Anthems]

The Legacy Land Project’s second benefit festival, set for June 20, pairs a free daytime resource fair with a ticketed evening concert, with proceeds directed to Eaton Fire recovery

When the Legacy Land Project staged the first Ashes to Anthems last spring, it was a single benefit concert. This June, the Altadena nonprofit is asking fire survivors to spend the whole of Juneteenth together — a free afternoon of vendors, food and recovery services that gives way to a ticketed evening concert, all of it built around keeping displaced families rooted in their own neighborhoods.

Ashes to Anthems returns Saturday, June 20, on Juneteenth weekend, but in its second year it is no longer the lone concert that drew crowds to a Pasadena park in 2025. The Legacy Land Project, a Black-led nonprofit formed in response to the Eaton Fire, has reframed the event as a full-day Juneteenth festival: an afternoon vendor village and community marketplace that builds toward a 7 p.m. headliner concert. Organizers describe the arc of the day, on the event’s official website, as moving “from daylight celebration to nighttime declaration.” They have tied its purpose — raising money to keep Eaton Fire survivors in Altadena and Pasadena — to a holiday about freedom and the right to remain.

The daytime portion is free, said Dr. William Syms, the project’s executive director and board chair. The evening concert carries a ticket price. Syms said the early hours will feature performers including Brian Courtney Wilson, Travis Greene, Sunwoah, Judah Lacy and Aja Marie, while the night turns to an R&B concert headlined by Grammy winner Andra Day, with BJ the Chicago Kid, Kenyon Dixon, OGI and other artists. Tickets and volunteer sign-ups are posted at ashestoanthems.com.

The festival also doubles as an access point for recovery resources. Syms said the project will use the day to connect residents with disaster case management, mental health support and other community organizations, and to help people pursue federal aid before a July expiration on certain FEMA assistance. The Legacy Land Project operates a resource hub it calls HOLD Dena, which the organization says connects Altadena and Pasadena residents to support during Eaton Fire recovery.

For Syms, the reason to gather at all is partly defiance. “This is our second year doing Ashes to Anthems, and what we saw was collectively a need for us to continue to create joy,” he said in an interview with Pasadena Now. “When you lose your home and your community is devastated, it can’t be forgotten. This is an intentional act of resistance against despair, against depression, against those things that would swallow us up when we get overwhelmed.”

He said the choice of Juneteenth was deliberate. The project’s name, Syms said, is meant to honor the Black and brown families who built Altadena and Pasadena into places of culture and memory, and to keep that history from being erased as the area rebuilds. He said the resources offered at the festival are open to every fire-affected resident, regardless of background. “It really is a rally call for all Altadenans,” Syms said.

The first Ashes to Anthems was held April 26, 2025, an 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. event at Memorial Park in Pasadena, free and open to the public, headlined by Andra Day. Organizers have not publicly announced a venue for the 2026 festival. The Legacy Land Project says proceeds support its continuing work helping families return to and rebuild in Altadena and Pasadena.

For Syms, that is the point of spending an entire freedom holiday together. “Creating this intentional moment of joy — it makes spirits lighter,” he said. “It means that we have the resilience to continue to push on, and it means our families continue to ground themselves in the resilience that’s needed to rebuild their legacy.”