Cultural Rhythms Festival
For almost four decades, Cultural Rhythms has been the largest and oldest cultural festival at Harvard. It brings our community together to celebrate the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of the Harvard College student body. Throughout the scheduled week of programming, whether it be through performance artistry, culinary delights, or engaging dialogue, the Harvard Foundation's goal is to uplift students as they share traditions from their own cultures.
Programming for the week involves thousands of students, dozens of student groups, collaborations with campus partners such as the Office for the Arts, the Harvard College Women’s Center, the Office for BGLTQ Student Life, and culminates in the Cultural Rhythms Showcase and Artist Conversation. This event features a variety of cultural performing student groups acts and a student-led conversation with a well-renowned artist who has made impactful contributions to the arts and advocacy efforts. Previous Artist of the Year recipients have included Issa Rae, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Denzel Washington, Jackie Chan, and many more!
Previous Artists of the Year
1986 Debbie Allen
1987 Marilyn McCoo
1988 Ruben Blades
1989 Florence Griffith Joyner
1990 Danny Aiello
1991 Phylicia Rashad
1992 Jimmy Smits
1993 Graham Greene
1994 Andy Garcia
1995 Denise Nicholas
1996 Denzel Washington
1997 Sinbad
1998 Halle Berry
1999 Will Smith
2000 Matt Damon
2001 Jackie Chan
2002 Blair Underwood
2003 Queen Latifah
2004 George Lopez
2005 Jada Pinkett Smith
2006 Salma Hayek
2007 Laurence Fishburne
2008 Herbie Hancock
2009 Dan Aykroyd
2010 WyclefJean
2011 Shakira
2012 John Legend
2013 Nicole Scherzinger
2014 LL Cool J
2015 Eva Longoria
2016 Lucy Liu
2017 Viola Davis
2018 Solange
2019 Janet Mock
2020 N/A
2021 Taraji P Henson
2022 Lady Gaga
2023 Issa Rae
2024 Angela Basset + Courtney B. Vance
