Kingsley Heritage Celebration

The Kingsley Heritage Celebration hosted by the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve will take place on Feb. 15 and Feb. 22, and this year the celebration is part of a series of events to mark the 400th commemoration of the first enslaved Africans brought to English-occupied North America.

On Feb. 15, events begin at 10 a.m. with tours of the Planters Home and kid’s corner crafts. At 1 p.m., Dr. Johnnetta Cole will present “Looking Back in Order to go Forward.” Dr. Cole is an author, anthropologist and educator who served as the director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and was the first African American female president of Spellman College. At 2 p.m., the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters, led by Griffin Lotson, will perform, and at 3 p.m. there will be an archaeology hike through the slave quarters with the Florida Public Archeology Network.

On Saturday, Feb. 22, the Kingsley Heritage Celebration continues with a living history timeline that will transport visitors through the history of Fort George Island. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include an interactive trip through the past along with hands-on lessons in things like candle making, writing with a quill and ink and more. Historic weapons demonstrations will be at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.

The family-friendly events are free. Kingsley Plantation is located at 11676 Palmetto Road on Fort George Island.