Jonkonnu at Stagville

5828 Old Oxford Highway,Durham NC 27712

04 December, 2021

Description

Celebrate Jonkonnu, a remarkable African American holiday tradition, with Historic Stagville and St Sya Academy. On sale now! Celebrate Jonkonnu, a remarkable African American holiday tradition, with Historic Stagville and St Sya Academy! Durham musicians and students from St Sya Academy will perform at Horton Grove to honor the history of Jonkonnu, a masquerade celebration with roots in West Africa and the Caribbean. After the performance, join the lead artists around a bonfire for a Q and A about Jonkonnu's past and present. Jonkonnu was a distinctive part of the African American culture of North Carolina in the 19th century. Enslaved people resisted cultural erasure by preserving the Afro-Caribbean music, dance, drumming, and costumes of Jonkonnu through generations of enslavement. Stagville is one of the few sites in North America with a documentation of Jonkonnu. All recommended social distancing guidelines will be followed at the time of the event, including masks required in all indoor spaces and encouraged when outdoors near others. The program will be outdoors with an optional walk-through a historic slave dwelling after the performance. This event will be outside, so dress warmly! It will include walking in low light and over uneven surfaces. Historic Stagville is a State Historic Site that preserves the remnants of the one of the largest plantations in North Carolina. The Bennehan-Cameron family owned approximately 30,000 acres of land, and enslaved about 900 people on that property. Today, Stagville interprets the lives, families, culture, and work of enslaved people on the Bennehan-Cameron plantations.  Historic Stagville is free and open to the public with guided tours at 11, 1, and 3 on Tuesday-Saturday. Call in advance for groups, field trips, or private tours.