The first year of the festival was 1986. There were approximately thirty-five people in attendance. The festival has been in existence for 24 years now and may have had up to as many as 70 thousand people in attendance over the course of a three day period.

After the first year, Marlena McGhee, a co-founder, moved on to begin her own entertainment group. Another co-founder, Lolita Pazant-Harris passed in 1989. The three remaining co-founders are still working hard with many family and friends to make sure that the dream once started, remains alive. At present, our Board of Directors is the group of individuals who do most of the “leg work” and consist of the President and Board of Directors, each with special duties. The Executive Counsel and Committee members are those chairpersons who meet each month to assist with festival planning. The volunteers are those dedicated individuals who give their time for a full weekend to make sure that this festival flows smoothly. It was decided the festival would always be held the weekend before Memorial Day because we did not want to interfere with the annual Memorial Day festivities. This year’s festival will be held at the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park and other historical sites within the historic city of Beaufort.

The Gullah Festival is a non-alcoholic festival. It is family oriented and has become an excellent vacation spot for all types of reunion activities, community groups and friendly gatherings. Our festival will always have as one of its goals to educate. We educate in our pre-festival activities and we educate all during the festival through our selection of entertainment. The festival committee presents awards and donates to the community in a variety of ways. The festival activities include such entertainment as, jazz, blues, reggae, gospel, storytelling, dance, arts & crafts, food court, vendors market, educational forums, teen summits, beauty pageant, art shows, museum displays, dances and plays.