Port Wentworth hosts inaugural Gullah Geechee festival

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. (WTOC) - Port Wentworth held their first Gullah Geechee Festival Saturday, celebrating the strong culture in the Savannah area with history storytelling and Gullah Geechee inspired cooking.

The festival was not only a celebration of culture but also a giveback to the community. Festival organizers Georgia and Laray Benton said this was just the first, and every year they will continue to get bigger and better. People also shared their mission of a coat drive ahead of the cold winter months.

“Queen Quaid has said that we are the living links to Africa. So what does that mean? That means that we here in Port Wentworth, in Monti, we are the links to Africa,” said Jamal Toure, a storyteller at the celebration. “Our story is not just beginning in the United States, it goes back home from the food that we eat with regards to the building skill sets, the engineering skills, the mathematical skills, the writing, the languages, that’s tied to Africa and that’s tied right here in Port Wentworth, Georgia.”

Coat drive ahead of winter months

Laray Benton, co-organizer of the celebration, said the coat drive addresses immediate community needs.

“As you know, the winter is coming in, you know, we’re asking for coat drives, right? Especially with a lot of people being displaced from work, from International Paper, the federal government right now, you know, like we, you know, we felt the need to just empower our community by simply just being good stewards,” Benton said.

This festival, organizers say, is in direct response to the economic hardships people are going through after the International Paper plant closed.

Saturday’s goal was to uplift the community with vendor opportunities for families, arts, crafts and storytelling, free food and discussion of federal and state historical markers.