1Love Festival to Unveil 2025 Line-Up & Community Initiatives at May 22 Press Conference

Arts Council
May 19
2 min read

Updated: Jun 2

Winston-Salem, N.C. — On Thursday, May 22, 2025, at 10 a.m. (ET), the 1Love Festival leadership team—Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson (Founder, Pink Robe Chronicles and Co-Producer, 1Love), Mr. Darrick Young (Co-Producer, 1Love), representatives of Wake Forest University School of Divinity’s Faith COMPASS Center, and local elected officials—will host a press conference in the Magnolia Room, Kimpton Cardinal Hotel (51 E. Fourth St., Winston-Salem).

The briefing will unveil the complete program, headlining artists, and community initiatives for the fifth-annual 1Love Festival, scheduled for June 26–28, 2025. Speakers will highlight Winston-Salem’s creative DNA and preview how live music, visual art, tech showcases, and art-centered entrepreneurship will generate joy and local revenue. They will also introduce an expanded Artistic Soul Conversations institute—co-presented with the Faith COMPASS Center and the Sacred Memory Project—that links spiritual formation to community wellness.

ABOUT THE 1LOVE FESTIVAL

Celebrating its fifth year, the three-day 1Love Festival honors the creative genius of the African Diaspora through music, art, tech innovation, holistic wellness, and entrepreneurship. Daytime Artistic Soul Conversations (free with registration) offer workshops and dialogues led by scholars, artists, and healers, while evening ticketed performances showcase jazz, Afro-soul, hip-hop, spoken word, and dance. The festival’s mission: to re-story and reclaim narratives, foster belonging, and spark positive change through culture-rooted creativity.

WHY IT MATTERS

Winston-Salem is a keeper of stories and rhythms—from Moravian hymns to Black jazz clubs, textile mills to tech start-ups. The 1Love Festival amplifies this cultural abundance, weaving ancestral memory with contemporary innovation and positioning the city not merely as an arts venue but as a sacred holder of liberatory practice.

NEW FOR 2025

In partnership with the Faith COMPASS Center, 1Love expands its institute to “Re-Storying & Re-Covering: Coded Competencies in Theology, Faith & Wellness,” equipping participants with practical tools for grassroots healing.

QUOTES

“Five years in, we’re proving that when community, culture, and commerce move in harmony, everybody wins—from neighborhood vendors to international artists.” — Darrick Young, Co-Producer

“The 1Love Festival is our love letter to culture—rooting us in sacred memory while propelling us toward communal thriving.” — Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson, Co-Producer

PRESS CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS