On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, from 11 am – 3 pm, Hilton Head Audubon will host a day at Historic Mitchellville Freedom Park (HMFP)’s weeklong Juneteenth celebration, which will honor their 10th anniversary of celebrating Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is a national holiday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States; the celebration attracts thousands of participants each year with historic commemorations, music, food, and vendors.

Established in 1862 on Hilton Head Island, Mitchelville is the first place in the U.S. where Africans in America, just out of slavery and not yet citizens, governed themselves. The Park is located at 40 Harriet Tubman Way (off of Beach City Road), Hilton Head, S.C. 29926. Website: www. https://exploremitchelville.org/

We are calling our day “Celebrating Naych and B’uhds,” meaning celebrating Nature and Birds, and will be featuring wildlife art, conservation groups, naturalists, live music, family events and food. Our event begins at 11am with a raptor demonstration, followed by music by Calibogue Sound. Audubon birders will give bird tours of Mitchelville. The Boys and Girls Club will showcase and sell their birdhouses. Gullah-Geechee Cuisine and Mother Smoking Good will sell mouth-watering food. Binya, the popular Hilton Head shop, will be on hand selling Gullah and Lowcountry art, accessories, and books. We are continuing to add vendors, so stay tuned!

Hilton Head Audubon will be also distributing copies of its 2023 booklet, “Gullah Geechee of Mitchelville: Cultural Ties to Birds and Nature,” supported by a grant from National Audubon, on the importance of birds and nature in the Gullah Geechee community at the time of the founding of Mitchelville.  

For additional information or sponsorship opportunities, contact HHIAudubon@hiltonheadaudubon.org.