The 31stAnnual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities kicked off on Saturday, January 25th. Also coined as the “Zora! Festival”, this is a multicultural event composed of public speakers, exhibitions, theatre productions, arts education programming, live concerts and a 3-day Outdoor Festival of the Arts as well. All in honor of author, anthropologist, and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. This event is held in Eatonville, Florida, and runs from January 25th-Febrauary 2nd.Each year the festival is organized by The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts.
The nine-day festivalfeatures a number of activities to partake in, all different from the day before. Including book fares, film screenings, line dancing, arts and crafts booths, live performances by Orange County students, a healthy lifestyle pavilion, international foods and more. Also, R&B/Soul artists Michel’le, Howard Hewitt and Public Announcementare all performing during the last Saturday of the festival. For the festival’s daily lineup, you can go to ZoraFestival.org.
Zora Neale Hurston is best known for her short, satire stories about the African American experience and her own experiences as an African American woman. However, she’s also written novels, essays and plays. Her work led her to become a dominant female voice in the Harlem Renaissance era. Originally born in Alabama, Hurston’s family moved to Eatonville, Florida, in 1894. Hurston began using Eatonville as the setting for many of her short stories; making it the perfect location for the festival in her honor.
Mrs. Coney, an English teacher at Dr. Phillips High School, attended the festival on opening day. “My family has lived in Eatonville for generations, and I’ve lived here for 20 years. We come out here every year to pay homage to Zora and to show our nieces, granddaughters and sisters what powerful women can do. Every year it gets better and more people come out,” she said. Mrs. Coney also added that she’s teaching her students about Hurston in class this week. “I even offered my students extra credit if they come to the festival,” Coney said laughingly. Mrs. Coney is showing her students the movie “Their Eyes Were Watching God,”which is based off of Hurston’s most popular novelof the same name.
Zora Neale Hurston National Museum employee, Rebecca Sterling, recently partnered with Donate Life Florida to become a representative at the Zora Festival. “I believe in Zora’s legacy and will continue to keep her relevant for upcoming generations. I’ve worked at the museum for seven years now and this is something we pull together every year with DonateLifeFlorida.org to bring attention to organ donations. It’s free to register and you get two complimentary tickets to the museum. It’s something that we’re passionate about and not a lot of people are willing to donate so it’s our job to bring it light,” said Sterling.
The Zora Neale Hurston festival ends on Saturday, February 2nd, 2020. Admission varies depending on the day you attend You can check onlineor call 407-647-3307 to see what events will be taking place that day.
Comments