Celebrate Gullah/Geechee Art, Music and Living History from Charleston to Beaufort County, SC!

Gullah/Geechee Nation ♦ September 23, 2026 ♦ Leave a comment

De Gullah/Geechee riddim gwine caah we frum Chucktown ta Hilton Head Island and Port Royal, SC! As September turns to October, de Gullah/Geechee Famlee waan hunnuh fa jayn we! Gather with us in celebrations of art, music, foodways and remembrance throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry of the Gullah/Geechee Nation. Each gathering is an opportunity to support native Gullah/Geechee people who are keeping our cultural traditions alive.

September 26: The 6th Annual Gullah MOJA Arts Experience

The Gullah/Geechee Family Foundation will host the 6th Annual Gullah MOJA Arts Experience on Saturday, September 26, from noon to 3 p.m. at PURE Theatre’s Cannon Street Arts Center, 134 Cannon Street, Charleston.

This gathering is part of Charleston’s annual MOJA Arts Festival. Connect with friends and family and register for the Gullah MOJA Arts Experience:

In celebration of Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Awareness Month, jayn we een Beaufort County, SC!

October 3: Fish & Grits Musical Festival on Hilton Head Island

Travel to Hilton Head Island on Saturday, October 3, from noon to 6 p.m. for the Lowcountry Fish & Grits Music Festival at Lowcountry Celebration Park. Led by founder Latrese Bush, the festival brings together live music, Gullah/Geechee foodways, artists and makers. Come ready to dance and sing along to the music. Explore the festival details.

October 17: A Gullah/Geechee Day in Port Royal

On Saturday, October 17, the Town of Port Royal will host and sponsor the inaugural Gullah/Geechee Port Royal Party in collaboration with the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition and All Mobile Productions. Make a day of it:

• 10:30–11:30 a.m.: Join the Village People, Friends of the Cypress Wetlands, and Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition members and supporters for a marine debris cleanup beginning at the Rookery on Paris Avenue.
• Noon–1 p.m.: Take the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park ranger walking tour of Port Royal, beginning at Pinckney Chapel.
• 1–4 p.m.: Celebrate at the inaugural Gullah/Geechee Port Royal Party at Naval Heritage Park. Enjoy music, artists, traditional crafts and fellowship. Gullah/Geechee CREATE art activities also begin at the park at 1 p.m.

As you travel along Paris Avenue, please make time to support the new “American Gullah” Cultural Heritage House. Supporting a cultural home in Port Royal helps sustain the living Gullah/Geechee presence that gives this place its meaning. They will open their doors at 11 am.

E gwine be a Gullah/Geechee good time fa tru ya! Bring de famlee and put on hunnuh dancin shoe!

Remembering the Stono Rebellion

De Gullah/Geechee binya and ain gwine nowhey cuz we kno we story. Part of ourstory includes the Stono Rebellion which was led by Gullah/Geechee sacred ancestor, Cato. The history and legacy of the Stono Rebellion will be commemorated at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel, SC throughout the month of October. Charleston County Parks lists three programs through which the public can study the landscape and legacy of the 1739 Stono Rebellion:

• Introduction to the Stono Rebellion Landscape introduces the setting in which Africans resisted enslavement.
• Rice, Rebellion, and the Transforming Colonial Landscape connects the rice-growing landscape with the history of rebellion.
• Driving Tour of the Stono Rebellion follows the geography of that history beyond a single site.

Check the linked park listings for each program’s October date, time, meeting point and registration details before traveling. Learning this history on the land helps us remember the Africans whose resistance belongs at the center of the story.

As part of the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition‘s 30th Anniversary, we call pun hunnuh chillun fa cum jayn we een de land of de Gullah/Geechee!