Credit: Brookgreen Gardens
Brookgreen Gardens welcomed approximately 400 guests to its ninth annual Gullah Geechee Junkanoo Festival on Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Wall Lowcountry Center Complex.
Inspired by the Bahamian Junkanoo tradition, the festival celebrated West African, Caribbean and Gullah Geechee heritage through music, dance, storytelling, food, art and hands-on activities.
Guests participated in African drumming and dance, community indigo dyeing, live screen printing, mask making, Adinkra stamping, Maasai-inspired beadwork, musical instrument making and heritage seed packet art. The day also included cultural demonstrations, Gullah Geechee food tastings, an Artisans Market and the Junkanoo procession.
“The Gullah Geechee Junkanoo Festival gives visitors of all ages the opportunity to experience this culture through art, music, movement, and tradition,” said Page Kiniry, president and CEO of Brookgreen Gardens. “Support from the South Carolina Arts Commission helped us bring together artists, performers, and cultural practitioners for a meaningful day of learning and celebration.”
Brookgreen also provided complimentary admission to an educational group from The Village Group, a Georgetown County nonprofit that works to support and strengthen local youth and families. Other local groups that attended and supported the event included Teach My People and theater students from Coastal Carolina University.
Natalie Jones, Brookgreen’s vice president of creative education, said, “This year’s theme, Legacy in Motion, was about celebrating Gullah Geechee culture as a living tradition and honoring the artists, performers and community partners who continue to carry it forward.”
The festival was presented alongside two exhibitions, “Regal Threads: The Majesty of Blue and Purple” and “Threads of Memory: African Textiles, Adornment & Identity,” which explore textiles, adornment, identity, and cultural memory.
This project was funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. This funding supported artist and performer fees, cultural demonstrations, interactive arts programming, and craft supplies, helping Brookgreen to offer a full day of participatory programming.
To learn more about Brookgreen Gardens, visit www.brookgreen.org.