Planning for the 25th anniversary of the African American Heritage Festival is under way, and this year organizers are trying to avoid the negative stigma associated with the festival.

“If the media can focus on the positive contributions this festival offers the community, then everyone can benefit,” said Joe Witkowski, a co-chairman of the Heritage Festival.

“This is a celebration of culture and heritage. The community should support and enjoy all the activities, that is the only way we can shake this negative view of the event,” he said.

‘Bringing It Back to the Family’ is this year’s theme, and organizers are trying to focus the spotlight on the numerous events and activities, instead of the cruising and partying.

“It’s about sharing the African American experience with people. It’s about education and communication,” said Angela Mitchell, student communications co-chairwoman for the Heritage Festival.

“There is a skeletal plan in the works,” Mitchell said.

The week kicks off with a leadership forum and reception followed by a town hall meeting featuring celebrity Ed Gordon from “BET Tonight.” Hip-hop workshops and exhibitions, poetry readings, mixers, theater performances, a basketball tournament and community service projects such as Columbus Reads will all take place throughout the week.

“We are also planning a formal dinner and dance titled “Mahogany Moments” to be held in the Blackwell,” Patricia Cunningham Jr., a student advisor to the Heritage Festival committee said.

Mitchell said she wants the events to attract everybody from the OSU area.

“We want to appeal to the entire city, but especially the OSU community,” she said. “We would like a diverse crowd at all the events and the students to come out and see what we are all about.”

The Heritage Festival draws 30,000-40,000 people to the week-long event, with highest attendence during the weekend activities.

Heritage Festival is second to Red, White and Boom in attendance for an event this size.

The cost to secure the event exceeds $500,000, which is a major concern for the city of Columbus and an on-going challenge.

OSU staff, along with University Police and the Columbus Division of Police, have been in joint planning committees to implement traffic and police patterns and to develop program events.

The event will run April 21-27.