Editor’s note: After initially delaying its start by an hour, officials decided early Monday to cancel the 2024 Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration.
This article has been updated.
On what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.’s 95th birthday, organizers of San Antonio’s annual march on the holiday honoring him want to make sure the occasion is relevant to young people.
This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration will feature keynote speakers aimed at younger age groups. Jerome Foster II, a 21-year-old member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council; 20-year-old community activist and model Anya Dillard; and 16-year-old Mari Copeny, known as “Little Miss Flint” for her efforts to bring attention to the Michigan city’s water crisis, will deliver remarks after the march at Pittman-Sullivan Park.
A youth zone at the park, a first for the event, will include face painting, a DJ and basketball.
“Our kids are going to experience some really fun activities [like] LED robots, gaming, all kinds of different things we have not had before,” said march Chair Debra Seward.
On Sunday, the City of San Antonio and Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission announced that the march would be delayed because of expected precipitation amid frigid temperatures. The march, originally slated to start at 10 a.m., was to instead take place at 11 a.m. Lineup for the march was set for 10 a.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy at 3501 Martin Luther King Drive.
The 3-mile route ends at Pittman-Sullivan Park, where musicians and dancers will perform and vendors will offer food and merchandise. In its 37th year, the march is one of the nation’s largest commemorating the birthday of the civil rights leader.
With temperatures expected in the 30s on Monday with wind chill values in the 20s or below, organizers warned participants to dress warmly and in layers and stay nourished with warm food and drinks throughout the day.
“We are determined to press on, just as King and other heroes and she-roes did,” said Martin Luther King Jr. Commission Chair Dwayne Robinson.
The march has a meaning beyond celebrating King’s birthday, said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
“It’s no secret that every year somewhere in this city or across the world, there is deep division and conflict and pain and trauma,” Nirenberg said at a meeting of the MLK Jr. Commission on Monday. “But for that one moment in time in our city, we remind ourselves and the rest of the world what unity looks like, and we leave those divisions and conflict behind.”
The event is said to bring tens of thousands of people to Eastside streets, and city leaders call it the “largest march in the nation.” This year the MLK Jr. Commission is partnering with Visit San Antonio, which will gather data on how many people attend the march.
“One of the greatest prides of San Antonio is that we have the largest MLK march in the nation,” said District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez. “When we’re marching together, I want you guys to think about … what it meant to you to serve [in] MLK’s name.”
Two pre-march religious services were scheduled Monday beginning at 8 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy and 9 a.m. at Pittman-Sullivan Park. Sunday’s weather-related announcement did not mention changes to these events.
The city’s East Side will be congested with traffic and pedestrians making their way to the march. Church parking lots and street parking near Pittman-Sullivan Park fill up fast, so participants should plan ahead and leave enough time to find parking.
Marchers also can use free bus service to get to the march, courtesy of VIA Metropolitan Transit, which was scheduled to operate a shuttle from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
A VIA representative said Sunday that there had been no weather-related changes to the service. Marchers can check for VIA service alerts online.
The buses will take marchers from two locations, Lot 1 of the Freeman Coliseum at 3201 E. Houston St. and Lot 22 at St. Philip’s College at the intersection of Montana and Mittman streets, to a spot near the march’s starting point on MLK Drive, west of Upland Road.
In the afternoon, buses will pick up marchers from Pittman-Sullivan Park and take them back to Freeman Coliseum and St. Philip’s College. That service was scheduled to run from noon to 3 p.m.
For more events in San Antonio that celebrate King throughout the week, click here.
