The Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival—commemorated its 34th year in 2024 and brings together the community for world-class music and dance, delicious food, arts and crafts vendors, and a spirit of togetherness. Honoring the legacy of Kunta Kinte and vibrant cultures from across the African diaspora, the fest moves from its longtime home at City Dock to a new location at the parking lot of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, better able to accommodate the event’s ever-growing popularity, attracting over 10,000 attendees. The stadium is just a mile from our downtown Annapolis bed and breakfast, perfect for spending the weekend celebrating the lasting influence of Kunta Kinte, continuing to uplift and inspire centuries later.
Kunta Kinte’s Deep Roots in Annapolis
Kunta Kinte arrived in Annapolis aboard the Lord Ligonier ship in 1767, having survived the dangerous transatlantic trip from Gambia (⅓ of the enslaved people died en route), sold to a plantation owner three months after setting shore at the Annapolis harbor. Only 17 years old at the time, Kinte was resilient amidst being taken from his native land and brought into slavery, maintaining his Gambian cultural identity even while being forced into bondage in a strange and unwelcoming new land.
After discovering that Kunta Kinte was a distant relative through stories passed down from his grandparents, esteemed writer Alex Haley brought Kinte’s inspiring story to a broader audience with his massive 1970s hit, Roots. In the decade that followed the bestselling novel and TV series, the Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival took root, sparked by Kinte’s incredible perseverance and connection to the history of Annapolis.
All-Day Entertainment – Live Music, Dance, Dialogue on the Community Stage, and Creative Children’s Activities
Although the festival honors the dark legacy of enslavement that brought Kinte to Annapolis – beginning with a “remembrance ceremony” at 11 am – it also celebrates the human spirit, uplifting and poignant in its programming. Musicians perform on the main stage all afternoon, with styles to suit every musical palate. The Clones of Funk will get everyone dancing with their 10-piece band and tribute to George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic. Annapolis native Davonne D’Neil brings a youthful twist to contemporary soul, trumpet virtuoso Brandon Woody plays modern jazz, and headliner Keke Wyatt’s brand of R&B is what the the New York Times calls “a feisty declaration of love and empowerment.” Meanwhile, on the community stage, local podcasters will host engaging conversations touching on diversity, African-American history, and perspectives from the local community.
In addition to live music, enjoy performances by Expressions Dance Company, a dance studio in Annapolis for over thirty years. Alongside ballet, tap, and jazz, their teaching program focuses on African dance, incorporating traditional songs and movement. The festival also has West African-style drums set out, where you can try playing rhythms – a lively, celebratory, and participatory ambiance. Kids will love the children’s activity tent, which features hands-on craft-making and lessons about Kunta Kinte’s native Anansi folklore while making masks, hats, and other fun creations.
Diverse Vendors and Exploring African-American History in Downtown Annapolis
The variety of festival vendors – planned to be over 150 this year – embodies the broad swath of African culture, whether handmade jewelry from Malik’s Fashion Boutique, stylish home decor and vibrant clothing from Tesito, or Young Entrepreneur Booths featuring youth-run businesses. The fest emphasizes education and political action – you’ll find booksellers with African-focused texts and African Ancestry, a service to trace your African lineage and “find your roots,” identifying your present-day African tribe of origin from the largest database of African lineages comprising 40 countries. Their mission is to highlight how connected we are, sharing a “tradition of togetherness.” As a presidential election year, the NAACP will host a voter registration drive at the fest, an ideal time to update your voter info and ensure your vote counts this November. The fest encourages service in all forms, including volunteering, so if you feel inclined to help, you’ll get a free limited edition Kunta Kinte t-shirt for a 4-hour volunteer shift.
In keeping with the festival’s theme, explore some other landmarks in Annapolis that honor our storied African-American heritage. Stroll down to the Annapolis City Dock – precisely where Kunta Kinte arrived after the perilous transatlantic trip from Gambia – and admire the Alex Haley-Kunta Kinte Memorial. First marked by a plaque in the early 1980s, a statue erected in 2002 portrays Haley, a consummate storyteller, sharing tales with children of mixed backgrounds, illuminating the importance of passing down cultural identity, dignity, and shared heritage from generation to generation. Next to the memorial, walk down the Leonard Blackshear Walkway, a “story wall” paying homage to Blackshear, who was instrumental in the earliest Kunta Kinte festivities in Annapolis.
Watermark—whose wide-ranging activities include Annapolis water tours, walking tours of Colonial Annapolis and the USNA campus, and ghost tours—offers an African-American Heritage Tour, a fascinating two-hour guided stroll on which you’ll learn about the slave trade in Annapolis, Kunta Kinte’s harrowing but ultimately inspiring life story, and other notable African-Americans who hailed from Maryland and made their mark on history. There is an upcoming tour on Oct 19th, from 1-3 pm, but if you can’t attend, use the Kunta Kinte Festival’s self-guided tour map to head out at your leisure. At the Maryland State House, just a couple blocks from our location and famously the oldest state capitol still in legislative use, check out the statues of Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall, both hugely influential in the fight for African-American freedom and advancement.
Stay with us in Annapolis, where the spirit of Kunta Kinte shines bright!