The Gullah Festival was established to honor and recreate the atmosphere of a celebration called Decoration Day, now named, Memorial Day. As a result, every year during the festival weekend, there is a Decoration Day Play to commemorate the historic event. The Festival provides a unique family friendly cultural experience for local, national and international attendees of over 35,000 during the 3 day event. For over 30 years, we have been celebrating our rich history. With your support, we will continue to share the Gullah experience.
One day in 1985, five women were gathered and reminiscing about the days when the black community would celebrate Decoration Day in Beaufort, SC. Those women were Mrs. Rosalie Pazant, her daughters, Charlotte Pazant Brown, Lolita Pazant Harris and Reba Pazant and family friend, Marlena McGhee. The ladies decided that they should plan their own event in which they could keep the same old time flavor as Decoration Day while expanding on their ideas, including incorporating entertainment they selected. They tossed around several names and finally came up with a name representative of the area and decided to call their new venture "The Gullah Festival." Under the helm of Mrs. Pazant, their dream became a reality and the first year of the Festival was 1986.
