The Gullah Festival of South Carolina celebrates and recognizes the history, customs, cultures, language and accomplishments of the African Americans of the low-country. Festival activities will commence Friday, May 22nd and will end on Sunday, May 24th. The festival is always held on the weekend before Memorial Day. Our 2009 festival will be held at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park with additional venues throughout Historical Beaufort.

President’s Letter

Hello Dear Festival Friends,
Thanks ever so much for your interest in the 2009 Gullah Festival. We are still in the planning phase and therefore have not confirmed all of our entertainment for this year’s Festival. However, I can assure you that this year’s program will be as excellent a line-up as we’ve always presented to our festival goers in the past.

This year’s Festival will be held on May 22 – 24, 2009 in the newly renovated Henry C. Chambers Water Front Park in Downtown Beaufort As it has been for the all of its 23 years except the one year it was held at Beaufort High School. As in the past, we will continue to have community involvement by hosting forums and plays at some of the area churches. Our area churches also offer meals of their choosing during festival time. We will also have our 2 – 2 ½ hours tour of Beaufort, Port Royal the Islands and surrounding areas.

Our fee structure will remain the same as it was last year: $10.00 on Friday, $20.00 On Saturday and Sunday. Children ages 6 and under are free, ages 7 – 12 $10.00 and all ages 13 and up $20.00. Admission for a play and an additional off site event is $15.00 each, and the tour is $15.00. All forums are free. As in the past, we will offer a 10% discount on the over all price for groups of 25 or more with one person acting as contact for the group. And, as was a new addition last year, we will again offer a weekend pass which would include admission to the park for three days, two off-site events, and a tour for $80.00 (the group rate does not apply to the weekend pass, because a discount is already built in).

I certainly hope that this will help you as you prepare for your trip to beautiful Beaufort. Look forward to seeing you at our festival.

With Deepest Appreciation
Sincerely,
Mrs. Rosalie F. Pazant, President