'This is more about the culture': Freaknik documentary makes streaming premiere on March 21

Freaknik attracted students and visitors from around the country during the ’90s. Hulu’s “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told” premiered Tuesday at the South By Southwest Festival and makes its streaming debut on Hulu next. (Marlene Karas/Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives. Special Collection and Archives, Georgia State University Library)

If you participated in Atlanta’s wildest gathering called Freaknik back in the day, then beware: You might be featured in Hulu’s new documentary about the legendary street party that became popular through folklore tales involving gridlock traffic, public nudity and highway debauchery.

Many of those images will certainly be on full display in “Freaknik: The Wildest Story Never Told.” But the documentary isn’t just focused on the hyper-sexualized environment and public safety concerns attached to the festival birthed four decades ago. It’s also about how the iconic event started as a simple, Black college cookout that ultimately drew thousands from across the United States, defining Atlanta as a cultural and music hotbed.

“This is more about the culture. This is Atlanta’s version of ‘Beat Street'” said Jermaine Dupri, who executive produced the project with several others including Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell and 21 Savage. The documentary premiered Tuesday night at SXSW in Austin, Texas. It will stream on Hulu on March 21.