Lincolnville Festival Will Celebrate Oldest City's African-American Heritage

26th Annual Event!
November 3-5

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Oct. 10) – The African-American heritage of the Nation’s oldest city will be celebrated with music, food and fun when the Lincolnville Festival returns to St. Augustine’s Historic Lincolnville on November 3rd through 5th.

The festival gets underway on Friday with live R&B music, food, arts and crafts. Saturday features narrated tours of Historic Lincolnville sites, live country/pop, jazz and dance music throughout the day and a special “Soul Food” contest. On Sunday, the day’s entertainment features great gospel music – along with more food and more fun.

Funds raised from the festival will go to the second phase of the Fort Mose Museum, which is being built in St. Augustine. In 1738, the Spanish Governor of Florida Chartered Fort Mose as a settlement for freed Africans who had fled slavery in the British Carolinas. The only requirements for freedom for the Africans were to convert to Catholicism and to form a militia to protect St. Augustine, which they did. Consequently, Fort Mose is the first free African-American settlement in what is now known as the United States. The story of Fort Mose represents a story of courage, determination, and perseverance. The stories of Africans fleeing to freedom and of Native Americans who aided them, as well as tales of the many other people touched by Fort Mose will inspire everyone who visits the new center.

Historic Lincolnville is one of the oldest African-American communities in the United States with more than half of its buildings dating from the late 19th century. Held on Granada and Washington Streets in historic Lincolnville, admission to the Festival is free. Festival hours are Friday, 5 to10 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday 2 to 6 p.m. For more information, call 904.377-3421 or (904) 814-7763 .