Sea Islands Black Heritage Festival

Sea Islands Black Heritage Festival

Mid-August

The Sea Islands Black Heritage Festival is a cultural festival held annually at Epworth by the Sea in St. Simons Island, Ga. The festival celebrates the local Gullah heritage and provides a means of preserving and promoting African culture in the diaspora.
The term Gullah, or Geechee, is used to refer to the African-American people and culture descended from slaves brought from Africa to the coastal region of South Carolina and the Georgia Low Country. Because of its relative geographic isolation in island communities, Gullah culture retained distinctly African and Caribbean features, including traditional foods, crafts, folk beliefs, and language.
Sponsored by A Project for Cultural Affairs (APCA), the Sea Islands Black Heritage Festival takes place on a weekend in mid-August and showcases Gullah/Geechee culture through storytelling, music, art, and such crafts as basket weaving, quilting, and preserve making. An opening night party is held on Friday night, and on Sunday visitors may tour sites connected with local black history. A special Children's Corner offers family activities throughout the weekend, including games, storytelling, crafts, and drumming.

CONTACTS:
Sea Islands Black Heritage Festival
116 Odum Lane
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
912-230-2834 or 912-230-2831; fax: 912-638-5579
www.seaislandsblackheritagefestival.com
(c)