A celebration of the local Gullah Geechee cultural heritage, the 7th Annual SEA Rails to Trails Festival is back to get the people in our community outside, having fun, and riding on the railroad tracks that were converted into hiking and biking trails. The event will give you a chance to enjoy bike riding, hiking, home cooking, a farmer’s market, and browsing the arts and crafts on display. Saturday will feature the musical stylings of Willie Green, Good Puppy, Doug Carn & Company, Amy Alyssia, Saint Jax Band, Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters, The Soul Searchers, and more, while Sunday will play host to Gospel music.
The annual festival is the SEA organization’s major yearly fundraiser and will feature a host of vendors and activities celebrating the local culture – historical booths containing Gullah Geechee artifacts and displays, DVDs, Gullah home cooking, and historical signs pointing out the rich culture of the area.
The festival will take place on Saturday, December 1 from 12-6pm and Sunday, December 2 from 2-6pm at Armstrong Park in Elkton. The Bike Tour along the Rails to Trails Bike & Walking Trail will be led by Bike Florida at 9am on Saturday. Admission to the festival is free, but registration for the bike tour is $20.
The SEA was created to support the Spuds, Elkton, and Armstrong communities west of St. Augustine, where West Africans called Gullah Geechee settled in the late 17th century. In this and in other coastal counties of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, the history of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is being preserved and interpreted by local organizations like the SEA. Funds raised at the Rails to Trails Festival will go to support the communities’ children and family programs, in an effort to help the residents living in these rural communities cross over the “sea” of homelessness and poverty by providing access to a food bank, medical assistance, after-school programs, and more.
To learn more about the SEA Rails to Trails Festival, visit www.seachrc.org. Register for the Bike Tour by visiting www.raceroster.com/events/2018/19228/sea-rails-to-trails-festival-bike-ride. Featured image via Facebook.
Find more events in St. Augustine by visiting our online calendar of events!
