As the Tubman Museum approaches the anniversary of its first year in a beautiful new 49,000 square foot building, the Museum will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of another of its signature community events – the Pan African Festival of Georgia. The Festival is a multi-day event that explores and celebrates the impact of African and African American culture. This year’s Festival will take place at the Museum and on the Cherry Street Plaza from Friday through Sunday, April 22-24, 2016.

Initially held as a one-day event, the weekend-long Festival will showcase African pride and accomplishments through music, dance, crafts, food, and more. Music performances (in the jazz, gospel and hip-hop genres), face painting, storytelling and dance will take place at this lively event.

This year’s Pan African Festival will feature live entertainment, crafts and all types of food from Caribbean to Greek to Asian to American. A pre-festival dance party featuring AJ The DJ is scheduled for Thursday (April 21) evening, and officially kicks off with a Friday evening black-tie banquet honoring Chi Ezekwueche, founder of the Tubman’s Pan African Festival and All That Jazz, two of the Museum’s largest annual fundraisers. Saturday features a Marketplace on the Cherry Street Plaza that features art, crafts, dance, vendors, food trucks, activities, performances by local talent, and evening concerts by the funk and jazz band, Brick (their most popular single was "Dazz"), and funk band, Lakeside (best known for their 1980 number one R&B hit, "Fantastic Voyage"). Musical entertainment on Sunday – sponsored by AARP -- will be provided by the soulful gospel sounds of the 150+ voice-strong Pan African Festival Mass Choir, Destined for Greatness and other musical guests, as well as this year’s headliner: Grammy Award-winning R&B, gospel and jazz singer-songwriter, Regina Belle.

Special presentations are planned for both inside and outside the building on Saturday and Sunday, including special drumming performances, face painting, dance lessons and a variety of other educational programming.

A film festival, guided tours of the new facility, drumming classes, storytelling, and a variety of family activities and other special programming are scheduled to take place inside the Museum throughout the Festival. Visitors will have an opportunity to take advantage of a special admission rate that also allows them to purchase Museum memberships at discounted rates – available only during the Festival.

The Tubman Museum invites everyone in the Middle Georgia community and beyond to come out and celebrate the diversity of our neighborhoods. Entry for the pre-festival dance party on Thursday night is general admission at the door; tickets for a raffle, the black-tie awards event and Museum admission are available for purchase at the Museum or by calling 478-743-8544.