Tubman African American Museum logo. For the last three years, the Tubman African American Museum (a Knight Arts grantee), has held its annual Pan African Festival in downtown Macon at the Douglass Theatre and in the Cherry Street Plaza. Previously, the majority of the festivities took place in Central City Park. Changing the location of this event has attracted more of an appeal, audience and partners.

Pan African Festival of Georgia logo. The festivities start on April 24 with the Geico Poetry Theatre from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre. This affair was produced by Poetic Peace Arts (a Knight Arts grantee), the Douglass Theatre and the Tubman African American Museum. Since the festival has been taking place in downtown Macon, this juncture has changed from the Poetry Cafe to the Poetry Theatre. Now, each year consists of screening a documentary related to spoken word along with live performances from featured poets in addition to an open mic. This year, the film being screened is You Belong Everywhere, which is about a poet traveling with a touring band. In addition, there will be a headline performance from the HBO Def Poet Abyss Graham and hosted by Josie S. Bailey, a professional storyteller. Afterwards, the mic will be opened to artists who would like to project family-friendly poetic pieces. On Friday from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre, the Pan African Festival’s official kick-off day exhibits artists who represent all disciplines of art and culture from the African diaspora. Click here to see the variety of acts. This date is a perfect evening of indoor fun for the family. The opening ceremonies consist of an hour of many faiths coming together for peace at 11 a.m. All-day Saturday, the family can enjoy merchandise and food vendors along with programming, such as the International Children’s Village. This happening for the youth partners with the Ocmulgee National Monument and is sponsored by Georgia Power. Unless it rains, all of this day’s activities take place in front of the new Tubman African American Museum. This allows the festival goers to catch a glimpse of the bigger and better venue, which will help the Tubman African American Museum continue its mission of enlightening the masses about African Americans and their many contributions to the society and world. The Saturday cultural celebration carries on to include a lineup of performers on stage in an outdoor festival ambiance. A list of all of the weekend acts can be found by logging onto the Tubman African American Museum’s website.

Chi Ezekwueche (with yellow tag and scarf), founder of the Pan African Festival of Georgia festival. The Pan African Festival of Georgia was created from the imagination of Chi Ezekwueche , a visual artist and community activist, in 1996. Anchor institutions, individual artists and leaders in Macon are proud to keep this legacy alive.