Timucuan Preserve to Host Kingsley Heritage Celebration on February 17th

News Release Date:
February 1, 2024

Contact:Emily Palmer

JACKSONVILLE - 1/30/24 - On February 17, 2024, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, a unit of the National Park Service, will host Kingsley Heritage Celebration at Kingsley Plantation. This special event is held every year to celebrate African heritage and remember the enslaved that lived here. This year, Kingsley Heritage Celebration will include a night-time luminary program with extended park hours.

Schedule of events:
11:00- Booths open featuring Florida Public Archaeology Network, kid's corner, Zoo Teens, Cosmo Historical Preservation Corporation, Timucuan Parks Foundation, and more.1
1:00- Ranger-led tour
12:00 Lighting of the Rick at the Tabby Making Demonstration
1:00- Ranger-led tour
2:30-4:30- Main Stage Performances by Kasasaka Dance Company and Orisirisi
5:00- Ranger-led tour
6:15- Sunset and Luminary Program at the Cabins

On February 17, Kingsley Plantation will feature African Folklore performances by the Kasasaka Dance Company. Led by Kasa Panzu, an eccentric African folk master entertainer originally from D.R Congo, Kasasaka specializes in African dance, drumming, costume & story telling for diverse occasions. Also performing is Orisirisi, a preeminent performing arts company, was created in 1986 with the expressed purpose of sharing both the beauty and poignancy of African life and culture. Co-produced, directed, and performed by a husband-and-wife team comprised of Nigerian born folk-artist Adetutu Harrell and Don Harrell a music scholar and performing artist, Orisirisi (a Yoruba word pronounced o-re-she-re-she) utilizes varied artistic to impart folk-knowledge and experiences to and for their audiences. With its unique brand of African folkloric performances, Don and Tutu proudly offer forms Orisirisi (different, different things) to audiences.

The event begins at 11:00 a.m. in the morning with a kid's craft corner, archaeology programing from Florida Public Archaeology Network, booths featuring partners such as Gullah Geechee groups, and National Parks Conservation Association, open house touring of the Planter's home, and ranger-guided tours of the tabby cabins entitled Stories of the Silenced. A special collection on loan from the Ritz Theater and Museum of sweetgrass baskets will be available for viewing during the open house tours. Performances begin at 2:30 p.m. and the luminary program will start at 6:15 p.m. with a sunset reading of the names of those enslaved on Fort George Island. Chris Hughes, the preserve's Superintendent, said "These events are so important for the public to be involved in and offer an opportunity to understand and appreciate the history of Kingsley Plantation."

Visitors may also tour the site that include the original planter's house, kitchen house, barn, and the remains of 25 tabby slave cabins. The grounds offer graphic evidence of slave living quarters and daily life experiences. Come and honor those enslaved at Kingsley Plantation by learning about their artistic expression, skills, and knowledge and the tasks they endured on the Florida frontier.  

This event is free and open to the public.  For updates about Timucuan Preserve and a full event schedule visit www.nps.gov/timu; or find us on social media @TimucuanNPS.

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 428 national parks and work with comcommunities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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