DAUFUSKIE’S FIFTH ANNUAL AUTUMN FESTIVAL BRINGS MUSIC, FOOD, FAMILY FUN
DAUFUSKIE ISLAND, SC – Freeport Marina will host Daufuskie Island’s fifth annual Autumn Festival on November 7, 2009 from noon to 5 p.m.
The Autumn Festival is sponsored this year by a new non-profit organization, the Binyah Foundation, created to support the Daufuskie Island and Sea Island area’s historical, structural, natural, wildlife and ecological preservation efforts. Festival proceeds will go to the Binyah Foundation and other Daufuskie Island non-profit organizations.
Binyah Foundation representative Robin Townsend, said, “dance music, rock and roll, blues, zydeco, country and standards dance music, rock and roll, blues, zydeco, country and standardsJust like Daufuskie, the annual Autumn Festival is a one of a kind experience. There’s no better place to spend an autumn afternoon than relaxing with family and old and new friends around the traditional festival bonfire.”
Renowned Gullah author and sixth generation Daufuskie Island native (or “Binyah”) Sallie Ann Robinson will be on hand to sign her cookbooks and offer samples of her delicious cooking. Ms. Robinson, a motivational speaker and “celebrity executive chef,” was a student of Pat Conroy and a character in The Water Is Wide.
Hilton Head Island’s popular Chilly Willy Band will perform at the Festival. After 20 years together, the band promises a vast repertoire of dance music, rock and roll, blues, Zydeco, country and standards for dancing the afternoon away.
The price of admission includes a place at the community oyster table, which is heaped with oysters just-roasted over the “festival bonfire”. Kids will enjoy storytelling, a bonfire marshmallow roast, a scavenger hunt and roving kids’ entertainment.
Prizes will be given away for those guests who register and are present to win. Among the prizes will be Sallie Ann Robinson’s cookbooks, t-shirts, Daufuskie souvenirs, free admission to the Festival for up to four people, and two three-night stays for up to four guests in historic Valle Crucis in the North Carolina Mountains.
Vendors will be selling Island foods, arts and crafts. Among them are sweetgrass basket weavers Corey and Karen Alston. Corey is from Charleston, but his grandfather was a Daufuskie “Binyah.” Corey grew up hearing tales of the island but never visited until the November 2006 Autumn Festival when he brought traditional Gullah sweetgrass baskets to sell. He and his family spent the weekend exploring Daufuskie and now attend both Daufuskie Day and the Autumn Festival.
Festival admission is $5 for adults and free for kids ages 12 and under. Tickets are available at the gate or in advance at www.Daufuskie360.net and www.TicketLeap.com.
Free boat dockage during the Festival is available at Freeport Marina / Cooper River Landing / ICW36. For ferry reservations, to schedule historic Island tours, or to reserve a golf cart, call Freeport Marina at 843.342.8687. Ferries reservations are also available at Palmetto Ferry Co. Call 843.757.7819.
A limited number of vendor spaces are still available. Contact 843.647.1008 for more information.
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