Events and Tickets
Experience films, panels, awards & cultural events—from student showcases to rest as resistance at the March On!™ Festival!
TICKETS & PASSES
The March On! Festival celebrates the untold and under-told stories of the civil rights movement through film, conversation, and performance. Our 2025 theme—March On! Health: The Right to Be Well—spotlights the intersection of health, race, and justice, while continuing to explore broader social justice issues that shape our world today.
We’re thrilled to share the lineup of March On!™ Festival events with you!
If you’ve already purchased your festival pass and are logged into the festival site, you can now start registering for individual sessions below.
You can purchase individual event tickets below—but the best value by far is a Festival Pass, which gives you all-access to the powerful programs, conversations, films, and experiences we have planned. One pass unlocks everything at your level!
Need help deciding? Check out our At-A-Glance Festival Overview to see just how much we’ve packed into this year’s festival.
Whether you join us for one event or all of them, we can’t wait to welcome you. Choose what works best for you—and come be part of the movement.
If you are a member of the media who is interested in covering the festival or a festival event, please click here.
The Quiet Word: A Reading Salon
Doors Open: 5:45pm
Session: 6:00pm
Join us for the A Quiet Word, a community silent reading experience, a blending of literature, music, and conversation.
Bring your favorite book, or just what you’re reading now. We’ll also have some complimentary copies of books from the 2025 March On! Reading List on hand. Then immerse yourself in two 20-minute silent reading sessions with intermittent 10-minute breaks to share your literary discoveries and insights with fellow book enthusiasts. Sip a cup of tea while a curated playlist enhances the vibe.
Sponsored by Eaton House.
We Want the Funk! with Filmmaker Stanley Nelson
Movie Screening & Talkback: 5:00 – 6:30pm
Gala attendees are invited to a special pre-event screening of We Want the Funk! with acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson. This syncopated journey through the history of funk traces its roots from African rhythms to soul and early jazz- capturing the sound, spirit, and soul of a cultural revolution. The film sets the tone for the evening to come, leading seamlessly into a high-energy, funk-infused dance party that caps off the gala in unforgettable style.
2025 March On!™ Annual Opening Night Awards Gala Honoring Visionary Leaders in the Fight for Civil Rights
Doors Open: 6:30pm
Join us for a spectacular evening of recognition, celebration, and joy—culminating in a high-energy, funk-infused dance party you won’t want to miss. This unforgettable night will honor visionary leaders who continue to shape the narrative of civil rights and social justice in America.
We are proud to present the John Robert Lewis Lifetime Legacy Award to Senator Cory Booker, and the March On! Lifetime Achievement Award to Stanley Nelson, Marcia Smith, and their company, Firelight Films. The evening will be hosted by Jonathan Capehart, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, MSNBC anchor, Washington Post opinion columnist, and New York Times bestselling author.
Please note: If you'd like to attend the Gala along with other Festival events, the best option is to purchase the Festival Pass + Gala pass, which grants access to everything for $600.
If you sponsor the festival at the friend ($1,000 level), you are granted access to two festival+gala passes.
The Road Ahead: March On! HealthThe Right to Be Well, in Word, Conversation, and Story
Session: 6:00 – 7:15pm
Health has always been a civil rights issue. From the struggle to desegregate hospitals to today’s fights around Black maternal mortality, chronic disease, and structural bias in medicine, the right to be well has long been shaped by race, power, and policy.
The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)A Play By Nia Akilah Robinson
Doors Open: 7:30pm
Show Starts: 8:00pm
Join us at Woolly Mammoth Theatre for March On! Night and a thought-provoking performance of The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)—a darkly comic play examining America’s history of harming Black bodies in the name of science, our responsibility to time, and the power of joy in reckoning with the past. The evening includes a special post-show talkback hosted by March On!
Use code MARCH30 at checkout to receive 30% off regular ticket prices.
Hurry—only the first 50 people will receive the discount!
The Well – Talking Hands
Doors Open: 12:00pm
Session: 12:15 – 12:45pm
An Intro to ASL Workshop, in partnership with Interpret This!, on the history and fundamentals of American Sign Language.
The Well – Disability, Health, and Justice: Expanding Access for All
Doors Open: 12:45pm
Session: 1:00 – 2:30pm
Explore how the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments have expanded—and where they still fall short. This engaging session, curated by To Be a Problem author Dara Baldwin, breaks down key definitions and the broad scope of disability today. Panelists will highlight real-world examples and discuss the Reproductive Health Care Accessibility Act, which aims to close persistent gaps in care for women, men, people with disabilities, and underserved rural and urban communities. Learn how you can help advance more inclusive legislation.
The Well – Grown Folk Talk: Issues in Women’s Health
Doors Open: 2:45pm
Session: 3:00 – 3:50pm
Covering key topics including prenatal, childbirth, fibroids, menopause, heart and elder health.
This panel centers the real stories encountered by front-line medical experts with vital information for potential patients.
The Well – Grown Folk Talk: Issues in Men’s Health
Doors Open: 3:50pm
Session: 4:00 – 4:50pm
This program addresses the critical health issues men face, with a special focus on reaching Black men, who are disproportionately affected by chronic illnesses.
We’ll look at risk factors, including prostate and testicular cancer, STIs and diabetes, with insights from leaders in the field of wellness for men. This panel is about breaking the silence, removing the stigma, and empowering men to take control of their health—body, mind, and spirit.
Albany Road Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Doors Open: 5:30pm
Session: 6:30pm
Directed by Christine Swanson, Albany Road follows Celeste as she prepares for an important work trip, only to find herself sharing a tense car ride with her ex-fiancé’s mother, Paula.
March On! Student & Emerging Film CompetitionHosted by Opal Hope Bennett
Doors Open: 9:45am
Session: 10:00am
Each year, the March On! Festival hosts a powerful film competition that showcases the work of emerging and student filmmakers using their craft to explore civil rights, social justice, and equity.
Nap Ministry presents Napping as Resistance: Rest as a Tool for Collective Liberation
Doors Open: 3:00pm
Session: 3:30 – 4:30pm
What if the key to our liberation, justice and community thriving isn’t more effort—but more rest? In this transformative interactive session, Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, challenges everything we’ve been taught about productivity, showing how intentional rest is not just a luxury, but a necessity for personal and collective liberation.
Tricia is the acclaimed author of two groundbreaking books Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto and We Will Rest!, both of which explore rest, healing, and liberation as radical tools for reclaiming our humanity.
Vivian Malone Courage Award
Doors Open: 6:00pm
Session: 7:00pm
Presented biennially by Dr. Sharon Malone—renowned OB/GYN and sister of civil rights pioneer Vivian Malone Jones—this award honors contemporary women who demonstrate extraordinary courage in the fight for racial justice. Named after the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama, the award celebrates those who, like Vivian, boldly confront injustice and inspire progress.
This year, we are delighted to honor commentator, author, television and podcast host Joy-Ann Reid, who will be joined In Conversation with the Honorable Eric Holder, former US Attorney General. With a Special Performance by actor Lisa Arrindell, portraying the groundbreaking icon, journalist and anti-lynching activist, Ida B. Wells Barnett.
Come early! The first 500 people to arrive receive a free copy of Joy-Ann Reid's book Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America.
Dark Tower Day Party: A Harlem Renaissance Experience
Doors Open: 12:45pm
Day Party: 1:00 – 3:00pm
Step into the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance at our immersive closing event! Inspired by the iconic salons of A’Lelia Walker, this unforgettable afternoon blends live music, spoken word, dance, and dynamic conversation. Celebrate the brilliance, style, and legacy of Black creativity, culture, and resistance.
Special Guests: A’Lelia Bundles, author of Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, the vibrant biography of her great-grandmother and daughter of Madam C.J. Walker. Dr. Msia Kibona Clark, Associate Professor of African Studies, College of Arts & Sciences, Howard University
