Sun Ra, an Alabama native and pioneering force in jazz music, will be honored in his home state with a new, multi-day festival this spring.

Organizer Lee Shook has raised more than $21,000 for the festival via a GoFundMe campaign. Shook — who describes himself on GoFundMe as a “local music writer, DJ, archivist and documentarian from Birmingham” — created the online fundraiser on March 23, with a goal of $31,000.

As of Wednesday, April 23, the campaign had reached about 70 percent of its goal. Shook told AL.com an extra $1,000 had been secured in addition to the $21,523 listed on GoFundMe, bringing the total raised to about $22,500.

Shook is partnering with local arts, music and film organizations for the festival, set for May 21-24 in Birmingham. Plans are subject to change, according to the GoFundMe page, but the current agenda includes several events — concerts, movies, art shows, food, roundtable discussions and more — at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Sidewalk Cinema, Saturn, The Nick, Seasick Records, Southern Music Research Center and East Village Arts.

May 22 will be pegged as Sun Ra Day, marking what would have been the artist’s 111th birthday.

Sun Ra (1914-1993) was born in Birmingham as Herman “Sonny” Blount. He was a prolific and influential composer, bandleader, keyboard player and intergalactic philosopher, best known for his experimental and avant-garde works.

Sun Ra claimed to be from Saturn, or transformed by a visit to Saturn, and therefore invested with the power to transform the world through music. He preached peace, love and awareness, and his overall aesthetic was a blend of concepts from the Bible, science fiction, numerology, Egyptian mythology and African culture.

“Music is a language, and I’m saying things that can reach people,” Sun Ra said in a 1988 interview with The Birmingham News. “I’m not a prophet. I’m a destiny-changer. It’s all right to prophesy, but the best thing to do is change things, if you’ve got the power.”

(Listen to Sun Ra’s “That’s How I Feel,” from the 1978 album “Languidity,” in the video below.)

Along with a long list of recordings, Sun Ra created a large, ever-changing ensemble of musicians and dancers known as the Arkestra. Their trademark costumes have featured flowing robes and spectacular headdresses, inspired by ancient Egypt and alien fantasy.

“Their performances would often stretch on for hours, including hypnotic, chanting processionals through the audience,” says Sun Ra’s bio on the National Endowment for the Arts website. (The NEA named him a Jazz Master in 1982).

The Sun Ra Arkestra continues to perform in 2025, led by Marshall Allen. Allen, 101, a composer and saxophone player, joined the Arkestra in 1958 after meeting Sun Ra, and has been at the helm of the ensemble since 1995.

Shook’s agenda for a Sun Ra Festival in Birmingham includes two concerts by the Arkestra — on May 22 at the Jazz Hall’s Carver Theatre, and May 23 at The Nick, one of the city’s oldest nightclubs.

Money raised on GoFundMe will pay for the Arkestra’s expenses for the trip to Birmingham, the campaign page says, as well as expenses for presenting all festival events. Proceeds raised during the events will go to the hosting venues, Shook says.

Sun Ra has been honored in Birmingham before, with a Sun Ra Centennial Celebration in 2014 at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. He’s also been inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

A new Sun Ra festival, however, would “honor the memory and impact of Ra and carry his music and message forward well into the future, both here in Birmingham, as well as around the globe,” Shook says on GoFundMe.

Sun Ra made his initial fame in Chicago, and his high-flying career took him to cities around the world. He also has a history of performances in his hometown, including nightclub dates during the 1930s and appearances at the former City Stages festival in 1989 and 1990.

Sun Ra died on May 30, 1993, at age 79, and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. His recordings, more than 200 strong, remain influential in the music world. Sun Ra’s works were featured in a 2023 story in The New York Times, for example, that asked jazz musicians, writers and scholars to name their Sun Ra favorites.

Singer Dawn Richard chose “Space Loneliness No. 2,” and said the song speaks to “the brilliance and genius of Sun Ra, and his ability to constantly reflect the time while being light years ahead of it.”

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