Beaufort’s Gullah Festival is back! What to know for this weekend’s celebration
The 36th Original Gullah Festival — a celebration of Gullah Geechee culture and history — returns this weekend, when it’s expected to attract as many as 20,000 people over three days to Beaufort’s waterfront.
The uniquely Lowcountry festival, which has events scheduled Friday through Sunday at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, is dubbed the “original” because it was the first in South Carolina to celebrate Gullah culture. The festival was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19, adding extra anticipation to it’s return.
“I’m very excited to get things going — pumped and ready,” Roy Hicks, president of the festival, told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Vendors will be selling food and clothing and arts and crafts beginning Friday. The festival hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Storytelling, dancing, the sounds of jazz, blues, reggae and African drums are some of the sounds and sights you can expect. There will be workshops on basket and quilt making and tours of Gullah sites and history exhibitions as well.
Go to https://www.originalgullahfestival.org/festivalschedule2022 for a complete list of the events.
“Our festival is a platform for locals to share their Gullah experience, their talent, their arts and crafts with everyone else,” Hicks said.
Hicks’ grandmother, Rosalie Pazant, was one of the co-founders of the Original Gullah Festival, which began in 1985 to honor and recreate the atmosphere of a celebration called Decoration Day, now named Memorial Day. Its focus has been educating the masses about Gullah-Geeche people who have traditionally resided in the coastal areas and the sea islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
This year’s theme is “Celebrating our Roots.”
“One thing we always want our people to do is celebrate their history and their roots, where they come from,” Dawna Pazant, the festival’s vending coordinator and Rosalie Pazant’s granddaughter, said.
Not all people who are Gullah know much about their history while others may know about it but don’t necessarily celebrate it, she said.
“We just want people to celebrate with us,” said Pazant.
Pazant is from New Jersey but spent summers with her grandmother in South Carolina when she was growing up. Each year, Pazant returns to work at the festival.
Hicks said he’s anticipating at least 20,000 people to attend.
Friday night’s all-white attire Caribbean Party is already sold out, Pazant noted, but all three days are free this year.
The free admission, Pazant said, is a way of saying, ‘Thank you,’ and it gives people another reason “to come out and celebrate Gullah.”
There are dozens of events throughout the three-day event. Here’s seven you might want to check out:
Vendors market
Products from as far away as Kenya and Guyana and Gullah-related arts, crafts, clothing and food will be available for sale throughout the festival.
Drums
Storytelling, Drummers and Dancers, Sierra Leone, West Africa at 6 p.m. Friday in the Waterfront Park.
Ron Daise
One of the stars in the TV program Gullah Gullah Island, will speak at 5 p.m. Friday at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 901 Craven Street, about Gullah Geechee Culture, history and beliefs ($30 admission). He’ll also be at Waterfront Park at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Decoration Day
Aunt Pearlie Sue and Gullah Kinfolk Presents “Decoration Day,” Broadway Back In Da Woods Musical Production, 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, at the Center for the Arts, USC-Beaufort on 801 Carteret Street. For ticket prices go to www.gullahkinfolktravelingtheater.org.
Gullah roots
“Lest We Forget,” a walk-through at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 901 Craven St., about Gullah heritage.
Sunday service
The Hour of Power Worship Service at 9 a.m. Sunday, Waterfront Park.
Remembering history
A re-dedication of the commemorative marker at the foot of 11th Street in Port Royal is planned at 11 a.m. Sunday. That’s a location where slave trading ships arrived in the area, Hicks said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 2:43 PM.
