| Episode |
"Festival" is the nineteenth episode of the second season and 32nd overall of Abbott Elementary. It aired on March 15, 2023.
Description[]
Abbott Elementary rallies together to fight the threat from Legendary Charter Schools. Ava pitches a festival to draw parents to school and collect their signatures for a petition. However, Draemond shows up with the intention of derailing the event.
Plot[]
Janine is reading the agenda for the school board’s meeting next week. On item number seven is a proposal to transition Abbott Elementary into a charter school. The teachers seem to have accepted this fate. Janine tells them that no matter what happens, they will still be Abbott Elementary. However, Ava enters the teachers’ lounge to inform them that Draemond will be changing Abbott’s name to “Legendary School Presents: Abbott Charter.” This gives Janine the jolt she needs and declares that they can’t let it happen. The other teachers agree and decide to fight back, as well.
They come up with various methods to have the students’ parents rally behind their cause. Melissa plans on stapling all the info about what’s going on to students’ clothes so the parents can see it. Barbara plans to “butter up” Delisha Sloss and see what she can do for them on the school board level. Meanwhile, Janine plans on talking to every parent she sees and tell them what Legendary is up to. She’s optimistic that once they find out, they are going to storm the gates. Barbara, however, is a bit skeptical of Janine’s plan. Parents hardly come to their annual Open House and not many parents will sign at drop off. Janine, though, is optimistic about her plan. Ava is about to leave school, when Janine notices that she’s looking better than usual. She asks where Ava is headed, and the latter tells her that she’s out to handle some business.
Krystal signs the petition.
At drop off, Janine runs into Krystal, and she starts her pitch against turning Abbott into charter. She barely gets a sentence in when Krystal stops her. She tells Janine that she had read about it on Facebook and that she is all for keeping schools public. Janine has her sign their petition and they promise to keep in touch for any updates.
Back at the teachers’ lounge, Barbara informs everyone the unfortunate news that Draemond has already “buttered up” Delisha Sloss ahead of her and this sends Jacob almost over the edge. Janine is able to bring them good news as she recounts having a parent sign their petition earlier. The bell had gone off before she could get any more signatures, but she’s positive that parents will want to help and that they just need to engage them. Gregory volunteers to help accumulate signatures after school. Barbara and Melissa also volunteer to join in on the task. Jacob, on the other hand, abstains as he thinks that parents hate him.
Janine tries to convince a parent to sign the petition.
It's after school and parents have come to pick up their kids. Janine tries and fails to convince a parent to sign the petition. Barbara and Melissa aren’t having any luck either. Gregory barely makes any progress as well. Although, he did manage to get a signature from Erika, who, it turns out, knows everything that happened between him and Janine during the teacher convention.
After most of the parents have left, the teachers share their progress (or lack thereof). Barbara wonders how Janine was able to easily get the signature of the parent earlier that morning. As Janine recounts her encounter with Krystal, Barbara and Melissa cut her off. Krystal is one of the most active parents in Abbott. It was no wonder that she signed on. Realizing this, Barbara and Melissa conclude that their afternoon task was a fool’s errand. Gregory reluctantly agrees and is ready to admit that theirs is a lost cause and leaves.
Ava arrives at the entrance and spots Janine. She asks how their canvassing went and Janine admits that it’s not doing well. Janine asks where Ava went off to. Ava was just out for a job interview with Legendary Schools for the Chief Marketing Officer position. She had already tried her best to stop Abbott from going charter. She even went to the school board herself. She posits that once Abbott turns charter, she would be the first one to get fired. Janine suggests that Ava gather all the teachers in a room to figure out solutions for their problem.
All the Abbott teachers are gathered in the library trying to brainstorm solutions for their predicament. Gregory is stumped at how they will be able to gather at least 500 signatures to prove to the school board that the community is against going charter. He emphasizes that the signatories need to be real names of real people who live in their community. A few more ideas get thrown in and Barbara offers her own. She says that they need to trick the community into signing their names on their petition and they need to submit that to the school board. Janine disagrees with the notion of tricking people as she believes that they need to know what they’re signing and the why behind it. She wonders out loud how they could even trick them, half-heartedly suggesting that they throw a big festival during Open House and make everyone sign the petition to get in. Ava steals her idea and says that they need to throw a big FUN festival instead. Jacob points out that parents don’t really come to their Open House. Ava announces that it will be more than just an Open House. They will make it a blowout with games and prizes and must-see entertainment, dubbing it the A.V.A. Fest (or A Very Abbott Festival).
Barbara practices her motivational speech.
The school has two weeks to prepare for the festival and everyone is helping every and any way they can. Janine is helping the step team with their performance. Mr. Johnson found an old dunk tank and Melissa plans on using it to have the attendees dunk Jacob. She figures that since the parents don’t exactly love him, they’ll be happy to dunk him. Barbara is preparing her motivational speech, while Gregory is helping on deciding what food to serve during the event.
Some days pass and Gregory pays Janine a visit. He shares that he’s worried that their preparations thus far won’t be enough. He suggests that they get a headliner for the festival. Janine thinks of enlisting Tariq for the job since he’s from the neighborhood and people like him. Janine also thinks that he can draw a crowd. Gregory doesn’t approve of the suggestion because he thinks Tariq is a bit of a wild card, but thinks that they are on the right tract.
In the gymnasium, festival decorations are being put up. Janine and Gregory find Ava there and they share their proposal for a headliner. Ava reveals that she had already thought of that and shows them a poster announcing Jazmine Sullivan as their festival’s special guest. Janine is convinced that they are going to pull things off, while Gregory has a skeptical look on his face.
On the day of the festival, a line forms to get inside the venue. Janine tries to inform them of the purpose of their petition but most of the attendees aren’t interested in listening. Inside, the parents are waiting for Jazmine Sullivan who is yet to arrive and they have started to call their friends, telling them not to come. Unfortunately, the teachers are still short of the needed signatures for their petition. Janine and Gregory go to Ava and ask her where their special guest is. Ava laughs at them for thinking that Jazmine Sullivan would ever come to their event. When asked why she would lie about having her come, Ava reminds them that Barbara had said to trick them into coming.
Tariq arrives at the venue.
Janine hopes that the parents won’t realize that they have been bamboozle. A parent overhears their conversation and announces to everyone how they have been tricked into supporting the school by lying about Jazmine Sullivan. Fortunately, Gregory foresaw that this would happen, so he contacted Tariq earlier as a backup plan. Tariq reveals to the camera that Legendary Schools had discovered that his Legendary jingle infringed upon an existing melody. F.A.D.E. then fired him because he had become a liability.
Tariq walks up to the stage and begins his set. The angry parents are pacified and they actually begin to dance. Suddenly, in the middle of the set, Draemond walks onto the stage and the music stops. Draemond introduces himself to the parents in attendance and tells them that Abbott has been lying to them. He tells them that the circulating petition is nothing more than a promise to hold back their children. He dismisses the teachers’ concerns as merely their fear of change. He explains that he wants to turn Abbott into a beautiful Legendary property. A parent responds that she just walked around school and it looks alright, but Draemond answers that they can do better.
Nicole chimes in that her kid used to go to Addington until they kicked him out. Draemond says that they don’t kick students out, but they do sometimes encourage them to explore other educational opportunities. Nicole rebuts that they do so by kicking them out. Draemond continues that they are going to hire the best teachers for the school, but Krystal asks what will happen to the existing teachers then. A few other parents also raise their questions. Draemond inadvertently admits that not all of the students at Abbott will be accepted in the new charter school as they will employ a lottery system to determine who gets to stay. Tariq stops him and announces that Draemond is playing the Powerball with their kids.
The attendees dancing during Tariq's set.
As all this is going on, the teachers happily watch as the community steps up and rallies behind them against Legendary Charter. Draemond tries to defend himself and Legendary but is ultimately booed off stage by the parents, students, and teachers alike. Soon after, Tariq continues his set and the festivities resume. Draemond finds Barbara and admits defeat. Barbara hopes that they can finally put this whole endeavor behind them.
After the party, the teachers clean up a bit and wind down. They reflect on how magical it is when everyone comes together for a cause. As they are leaving, the gym’s scoreboard falls down. Gregory concludes that Abbott is still gonna Abbott.
Starring[]
- Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues
- Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie
- Janelle James as Ava Coleman
- Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti
- Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill
- William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson
- Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard
Special Guest Star[]
- Leslie Odom Jr. as Draemond
Guest Starring[]
- Courtney Taylor as Erika
- Jerry Minor as Mr. Morton
- Raven Goodwin as Krystal
- Zack Fox as Tariq
- Naté Jones as Amber
- George Sharperson as Wendell
Co-Starring[]
- Ambrit Millhouse as Miss Williams
- Kaycee Campbell as Nicole
- Jacob McKinnie as Student #1
- Ce'Onna Meilani Johnson as Grace
- Tahir Moore as Dad #1
- Harlen Ernest as Dad #2
- Ryan McAllister as Dad #3
- Jodie Patterson as Mom #1
- Kharmony Fortune as Parent #1
- Paul Archer as Parent #2
- Michelle Felice as Angry Parent
- Carleton Bluford as Neighborhood Person
- Symone Davenport as Step Student #1
- Taneya Harrison as Step Student #2
- Sarai Hicks as Step Student #3
- Kalani Le John as Step Student #4
- Sanaa Musaddiq as Step Student #5
- Vernon Dew as White Guy
Ratings[]
"Festival" was watched by 2.667 million viewers, earning a 0.49 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale.[1]
Media[]
Episode Stills[]
References[]
- ↑ Salem, Mitch (March 16, 2023). SHOWBUZZDAILY's Wednesday 3.15.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals UPDATED. ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved on March 17, 2023.