About Us
The Sankofa Festival is a multi-disciplinary two-day festival that celebrates African and African American culture and history. It includes a wide range of exciting activities, including African dance and drumming, African fashions, poetry, educational forums, children’s activities, a vendor’s market, and gospel, jazz and reggae music. Sankofa is an Akan word that means “Go Back and Fetch It,” a reference to the importance of retrieving the best of one’s history so that it may empower the present and the future.
The Sankofa Festival debuted in 2001, primarily as a platform to showcase the creativity of the dance students at the Kemet School, a nonprofit, tax-exempt education and cultural awareness organization. It has grown to include a wide variety of activities that draw hundreds of people to Florence each year.The Kemet School produces and directs the festival in partnership with the Sankofa Festival planning committee. The committee consists of persons who have a passion for expanding the diversity of cultural arts programming in the Pee Dee region. Each year’s festival revolves around a specific theme.
The theme of the 2009 Sankofa Festival is Heritage in Motion, which reflects the festival’s celebration of the African influence on American dance.One of the major goals of the festival is to educate. We educate all during the festival through our selection of entertainment. The festival committee also has presented awards and donates to the community in a variety of ways.
The Sankofa festival is held on the last weekend of June every year. It is a family-oriented festival. We believe the festival benefits the entire community and gives a deeper awareness of African and African American culture and history and of the arts that come from them. The all-day festival is held in Timrod Park and is an excellent setting for all types of family and class reunion activities, community group and friendly gatherings.
Our aim is to make each year’s festival better than the last. We realize that what we accomplish can be done much more easily in collaboration with friends, families, organizations and institutions in the region. To that end, we are inviting you participate in the 2009 Sankofa Festival by making a donation, purchasing a sponsorship, volunteering or serving on one of the festival committees. Your donations may be sent to: Kemet School, P. O. Box 4175, Florence, SC 29502 .
If you wish to make an in-kind donation or to obtain more information about how you may participate, please contact the festival director, Bhakti Larry Hough at 843-383-9059 or newworldcomm@gmail.com. Thank you for your support of the Sankofa Festival.
