Naked City

The Martin Luther King Jr. Citywide March and Cultural Festival will honor the slain civil rights leader's life on Monday, Jan. 19. In a reversal of its course in prior years, this year's MLK Day march and rally will start at the Texas Capitol at 9am and end at the festival on the Huston-Tillotson College campus. The festival, which continues until 3pm, will feature gospel choirs, food vendors, live bands, and arts and crafts. Free parking is available in various Eastside and Capitol-area locations, and a Capital Metro shuttle will run continuously, 7am-1pm, between the State Visitor's Garage (12th and San Jacinto), Disch-Falk Field, and Huston-Tillotson. See www.mlkcelebration.com for more info.

Blood drive immediately following the march on the H-T campus, sponsored by Holy Cross Catholic Church and the Office of Black Catholics

Voter registration drive sponsored by the Omega Voter Action Project as part of the Big Vote 2004 campaign of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, on the H-T campus

Feed the Dream: All day, participating restaurants including Ms. B's Authentic Creole Cuisine, Hoover's Cooking, Walnut Creek Cafe, and Major D's will donate a portion of their sales to the scholarship fund of the Austin Area Heritage Council, the main sponsor of the MLK Day celebration.

Keynote address: Saturday, Jan. 24, at 7pm, by Susan L. Taylor, current publication director and former editor-in-chief at Essence magazine, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 208 Barton Springs Rd. Performers include Grammy award-winners Take 6 and local dance group Body Talk. Ticket prices are $10, $15, and $25 and are available through www.mlkcelebration.com.

Project MLK: The march before the march, sponsored by ProArts Collective of Austin, Friday, Jan. 16, at the Oswaldo "A.B." Cantu Pan American Recreation Center's Hillside Theater, 2100 E. Third. Students from eight elementary schools will gather at Metz Elementary at 10:30am Friday and will join the Youth March Against Poverty and a food drive (coordinated with the Capital Area Food Bank) from Metz to the Hillside Theater for the MLK Essay Contest Award Ceremony and performances by several school choirs and the Wood and Strings Puppet Theater of Tennessee. Participants and sponsors include state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, City Council members Danny Thomas and Jackie Goodman, and the Rev. Greg Rickel of St. James Episcopal Church. For more info: 236-0644.