Hulu is developing a documentary about Freaknik, the legendary HBCU spring break party that exploded in popularity in the 1990s.
Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told will depict “the rise and fall of a small Atlanta HBCU picnic that exploded into an influential street party and spotlighted ATL as a major cultural stage,” according to Variety.
Serving as executive producers on the project are Emmy award-winning directors Geraldine L. Porras and P Frank Williams, Jermaine Dupri, Luther Campbell, Peter Bittenbender, Melissa Cooper for Mass Appeal, Eric Tomosunas for Swirl Films, Terry Ross, Alex Avant, Nikki Byles, and Jay Allen.
After kicking off in the mid-1980s as an annual picnic gathering for local HBCUs, Freaknik would go on to became an influential festival that defined Atlanta culture for nearly two decades. Every year, hundreds of thousands of students would take to the city for a weekend featuring dance contests, concerts, parties, sporting events, and a job fair.
By the late-1990s, Freaknik had sparked criticism from various groups, including the Atlanta Committee for Black College Spring Break, which called on the local community to no longer embrace the festival.
“We cannot support events that bring lewd activities, sexual assaults, violence against women and public safety concerns; firetrucks not being able to reach victims, and ambulances not being able to reach hospitals in a timely manner,″ the committee told the Associated Press in 1998.
