Mark your calendars: History museum to kick off Black History Month with 17th annual African American Cultural Celebration

The N.C. Museum of History is gearing up for the 17th annual African American Cultural Celebration, the state's official kick off event for Black History Month.

The event, with activities for all ages, is 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Jan. 27, at the downtown Raleigh museum. The festival features more than 75 musicians, storytellers, dancers, chefs, historians, playwrights, authors, artists and re-enactors, according to a press release. Admission and parking are free.

“The celebration has grown from a small afternoon event with a few hundred people to a daylong statewide kick off to Black History Month with thousands in attendance," said Emily Grant, the event's coordinator, in a press release. "This year’s theme is From Africa to the Americas, which has allowed us to trace the legacy of rich cultural traditions carried from Africa and the West Indies that blended into the unique history and culture of America and North Carolina.”

The festival begins with a procession starting at 10:30 a.m. that features the Tryon Palace Jonkonnu Drummers, a United States Colored Troops reenactment group and color guard and young students of A Drummer's World Drumline from Goldsboro.

Inside the museum, you'll find dancers, singers, storytellers and more. Highlights include Greensboro’s Vanessa Ferguson, a contestant on this year’s The Voice, performing R&B on the Staircase Stage, and culinary historian and former Carolina Chocolate Drops member Justin Robinson, who will talk about foodways of the African diaspora.

For kids, there are a variety of hands-on activities, including a gallery hunt, a traditional African games station, a cowrie shell necklace making activity and others.

Other activities include, according to the press release:

• Music and dance groups that include the Jamrock Reggae Band, the Chicago-style step group Steppin N Style and the 100 Men in Black male chorus, to name a few.
• Hands-on activities that include playing mancala and achi, crafting a cowrie-shell necklace, creating a doctor's head mirror with staff from the Pope House Museum in Raleigh and taking a spin on the Wheel of History to test your knowledge.
• Cooking demonstrations from Gina and Blaise Pehot (owners of Yaya’s Fusion) and Clarissa Clifton Lynch, author of One Hearth, One Pot: For Love of Food and History.
• A variety of head-wrapping techniques demonstrated by Shabu Jones, owner of Taji Natural Hair Styling.
• Letting off some STEAM with Lollipop and Mop Top, the Hip-Hop Scientist, and meeting and playing alongside the Jonkonnu drummers of Tryon Palace.
• Checking out some of the cars and talking with members of the Eugene Coard drag-racing team about their experiences on and off the track, then taking the seatbelt challenge.

The museum has more information on its website.