This summer season, Disney is celebrating Black excellence coast to coast with two highly effective initiatives: a historic HBCU celebration at Downtown Disney and a royal reveal at Essence Pageant, spotlighting creativity and neighborhood for the tradition.
Disney On The Yard Brings HBCU Spirit To The West Coast
For the primary time ever, Disney on the Yard, a program designed to construct neighborhood amongst HBCU college students and alumni, is bringing its vibrant West Coast YardFest to the Downtown Disney District on July 12, 2025, per a press launch.
The free, family-friendly occasion kicks off at 6 p.m. PT and can characteristic a reside DJ, giveaways, and a show-stopping second: the first-ever look of Drum Main Mickey Mouse and his HBCU Drum Main crew at Disneyland Resort, accompanied by the dynamic Brooklyn United Drumline.
Company are invited to rep their alma maters, don Divine 9 paraphernalia, or just soak within the festive environment close to the Downtown Disney LIVE! stage and garden. The occasion is open to the general public and doesn’t require theme park admission, although customary Downtown Disney parking charges apply, based on the discharge.
Including to the thrill, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., will maintain its 2025 Worldwide Management Seminar simply steps away on the Anaheim Conference Heart from July 10 to 13, drawing over 9,600 members, per the press launch.
The timing presents a novel alternative for sorority members to take part in each the management seminar and the cultural celebration. One of many occasion’s key figures, Aramide Boatswain, who leads advertising and marketing and industrial technique at Disneyland Resort and is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, performed a significant position in bringing this second to life.
Bayou Blessings Take Heart Stage At Essence Pageant
In New Orleans, Disney delivered a significant cultural announcement on the 2025 Essence Pageant of Tradition, unveiling Tiana’s Joyful Celebration, a brand new nationwide touring exhibition in collaboration with The Kids’s Museum of Indianapolis, based on Disney Parks.
Impressed by the beloved Princess Tiana and rooted within the coronary heart and soul of New Orleans, the interactive exhibit will take guests on an immersive journey by music, meals, crafts, and neighborhood traditions, all within the spirit of Tiana’s Bayou Journey attraction, which opened at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort in 2024.

The exhibition will make its debut on March 7, 2026, at The Kids’s Museum of Indianapolis, just lately named the No. 1 youngsters’s museum within the nation by USA At the moment, and can journey to 12 extra cities starting in 2027, per the announcement.

Within the exhibit storyline, friends will be a part of Tiana’s neighborhood crew as they put together for an enormous Mardi Gras parade that’s instantly moved up. Everybody should come collectively to contribute their abilities to assist pull off the right celebration in time.
As Disney continues to increase its cultural storytelling past the parks, these two initiatives replicate a robust dedication to celebrating Black identification, heritage, and pleasure in all its types.

Keep tuned for extra particulars on future Disney on the Yard occasions and metropolis stops on the Tiana’s Joyful Celebration nationwide tour.