By: Natalie Rodriguez and Andrew Anguiano

February is Black History Month and to Celebrate, California State University, Bakersfield, hosted it’s 2nd Annual Gospel Fest.

The night kicked off with the National Anthem sung by Unity of Praise.

EJ Callahan, Director of Student Union and Organizational Governance, commented on the overall theme of the event.

“I just think unity was our theme today. We started off with our Unity Breakfast this morning and then our Gospel Fest again today, so it’s just about bringing the community together and celebrating,” he said.

Darya Samiee, team member at Campus Programming worked the event.

“I guess from my point of view, from tonight I could say you could feel a lot of heart and soul and a lot of faith tonight. It kinda made me want to be up there with them, that’s what I felt,” she said.

Gospel Fest was hosted by the Black Student Union in collaboration with the President’s Office, and other campus organizations to bring students and the community together.

CSUB student Linsie White attended the event with a friend.

“I just think seeing a bunch of people just get together and singing for God and praising him and just celebrating is just the best thing,” she said.

Linda Maxwell a member from Saint John Missionary Baptist Church, who performed at Gospel Fest said, “I just think the relationship that we’re having with each other, we are Christians that are here, and the fellowship tonight I think that has been awesome. And I’m looking forward to doing it again next year.”

Last year’s Gospel Fest was held in the Dore Theatre, and quickly filled capacity. To solve this issue, this year’s CSUB Gospel Fest was moved to the Icardo Center to accommodate the public.

At the end of the day, CSUB’s Gospel Fest had an audience of about 600 people who were able to come together through songs, dance, and prayer.