By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Penn Center’s 40th annual Heritage Days Celebration will kick off this week with three days full of Gullah Geechee food, music, art, crafts and history.
The festival, which runs from Nov. 7 through 9, will open on Thursday with the Heritage Days Opening Ceremony at 1 p.m. at Penn Center.
Also featured on Penn Campus Grounds will be a Gullah Roots Village from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Later that day, the Lowcountry Supper will be held at Emory Campbell Dining Hall at 4:30 p.m. followed by the Youth Theatrical Performance at the Frissell Community House.
Day 2 of the festival is Family and Friends Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday at Penn Center.
Featured artist Cassandra Gillens will be available to sign posters of her artwork on both Friday and Saturday, and crafts and food vendors will sell their goods from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
General entrance to the festival is free, but certain events do require a paid ticket.
The evening entertainment for Friday will feature Songs of Protest performed at Center Stage at 5 p.m., followed by an Old School Fish Fry, Oyster Roast and Crab Crack.
After dinner is “Soul Music Night” which will run until 10 p.m., and an Old-Fashioned Prayer Service will be held at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s events will feature the Heritage Days Parade beginning at 9 a.m. Visitors are advised to be in place by 8 a.m. on Saturday morning to avoid traffic delays due to the parade route. The parade will begin at Halifax Road and will finish at Penn Center.
The crafts and food vendors will be open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Heritage Days Center Stage Program will take the stage at noon and will go until 4 p.m.
The three-day event will end with a Young Professionals Mixer at the Dining Hall at the Penn Center.
For more information, contact Penn Center, Inc. at 843-838-2474 or email heritagefestival@penncenter.com.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
