In 1978, Columbians gathered at the Mann-Simons historic site to celebrate African American culture and creativity. Nearly 50 years later, the Jubilee Festival lives on as a local tradition. Thought to be the oldest running festival in Columbia, Historic Columbia will host the 46th annual Jubilee Festival of Black History & Culture at the same site, the corner of Richland and Marion streets, on Sept.
21. "The mission of Historic Columbia is not only to preserve places, but to preserve stories that connect us in the present and inspire our shared future, and of course we’re basing that on the past,” Historic Columbia marketing director Emily Brown said. “And this festival really serves as a powerful tribute to the rich Black history and the significant contributions of African Americans here in Columbia.
" Where to go in SC for fall activities, from pumpkin patches to haunted houses The free festival is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 6 p.
m. and will feature musicians, artisans, dancers, storytellers and more than a dozen food vendors. The entertainment lineup includes performances by TiffanyJ, Master Splnta (aka FatRat da Czar), Francis Marion University YGB Gospel Choir, Nahi Grūv and Black Nerd Mafia.
Local R&B artist TiffanyJ is excited to return to the Jubilee Festival, for which she also serves on the steering committee. TiffanyJ performs Soulbird Sessions: Live in Columbia, SC in 2023. “There's so much diversity in Black culture.
Not only will you get somebody like me that does R&B/soul music, we have African drumming,” she said. “We have a fashion show, we got hip hop, we have some jazz.” TiffanyJ has been preparing arrangements to perform at the upcoming festival, including covers and tunes from her live album "Solbird Sessions,” which she performed last year.
Super Beauty — a superhero TiffanyJ created whose power is self-esteem — will make an appearance at the Jubilee Festival, just one example of family friendly entertainment that will be provided. Today's Top Headlines Story continues below School districts change plans after tropical storm warning announced, inclement weather expected After 27 years, execution nears for Greenville's notorious killer Freddie Owens Islander 71 employees rescue elderly couple from submerging car at Isle of Palms Marina Editorial: Did SC mean to ban Bible from schools? Of course not, but it apparently did. A ship was abandoned near Johns Island.
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The location of the festival is essential to the heart of the Jubilee Festival because of its deep connection to Black history. Just one home stands today, but historically the site was home to commercial and domestic spaces owned by the same African American family from at least 1843 to 1970, according to Historic Columbia. Midwife Celia Mann and boatman Ben Delane lived in the home in the early 1840s, challenging social norms at a time in which most Africans and African Americans in Columbia were enslaved.
The Mann-Simons Site is a historic home in Columbia, S.C., that serves as the hosting grounds for the annual Jubilee Festival.
After there was a threat to demolish the home in 1970, a grassroots movement came together to save the structure and turn it into a museum in 1978 — the same year as the inaugural Jubilee Festival. “If we were planning a festival for 8,000 people and we didn't care where the location would be, something like the Fairgrounds would make a whole lot more sense,” Brown said. “But we would never, ever think to change the location of it because of the importance there.
And we're just so proud of that, and so glad to be able to continue this festival.” The festival will offer tours of an 1890s era cottage, once home of Modjeska Monteith Simkins, “the Matriarch of Civil Rights activists of South Carolina,” as well. There will also be guided bus tours of historical sites and neighborhoods nearby.
“I just want people to leave inspired to keep the train rolling,” TiffanyJ said. “We have the charge to not only embrace that history and learn that history, but to keep the history moving forward.”.
