wrfgWRFG 89.3FM will mark its 40th anniversary on June 29 with a birthday block party at the Little Five Points Community Center from 2-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There will be live music, poetry, arts & crafts, vendors, a kids zone and more. For more information, visit  wrfg.org.

Since going on the air in 1973, WRFG has filled a void on the Atlanta airwaves. WRFG was the first Atlanta radio station since the 1950s to feature such regional musical forms as blues, bluegrass and jazz. Reflecting Atlanta’s emergence as an “international city,” it pioneered programming oriented toward the area’s growing Latin, African, Asian and Caribbean communities.

Collin Kelley is the executive editor of Atlanta Intown, Georgia Voice, and the Rough Draft newsletter. He has been a journalist for nearly four decades and is also an award-winning poet and novelist.