(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is indeed good news. I thought that devastation caused by Hurricane Ian in southwest Florida would have led to the cancellation of plans for the 3rd Back To Angola Festival, but thanks to Daphney S. Towns it will still take place October 21 – 23. I absolutely had to share this announcement with readers of BAHAMAS CHRONICLE as a Guest Commentary.)
GUEST COMMENTARY: BY DAPHNEY S. TOWNS
Welcome Back the 3rd annual “Back To Angola Festival”, October 21-23, 2022, at Manatee Mineral Springs Park, 1312 Second Ave E Bradenton, Florida.
The festival celebrates the settlers and survivors of the Angola Settlement. They were a community of freedom seekers who lived along the Manatee River, circa 1812 – 1821. During the Seminole Wars, a group fled to Red Bays, Andros in The Bahamas.
This year under the theme “The Power of Place”, we celebrate the history, descendants and traditions of Angola. After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the festival returns with live Bahamian Junkanoo music, a panel of scholars telling the story of the Angola maroon community, demonstrations of traditional basket weaving & woodcarving, and activities for children — hula hoop, hopscotch, ring play and many more Bahamian games.
Tasty conch fritters, conch salad and other Bahamian food will be on sale.
Come and be a part of this event!
Meet the Descendants of Angola in Old Manatee, on their ancestral land.
What is Angola?
“200 years ago, people struggled for freedom in the 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842). Some freedom seekers escaped Manatee and found haven in the Bahamas. Excavations recently revealed traces of Angola, an early 1 9th century Maroon community on the Manatee River, which was overrun in 1821. Angola is a local chapter in Florida’s history of peoples of African heritage. Now on the NPS Underground Railroad.”
Oaktree Community Outreach Inc 501 (3)c) Daphney S. Towns, President
Phone 941-933-0430 , Email: backtoangola@gmail.com for more information. If you like to donate to this great event, please email for more information. Thank you.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Daphney S. Towns, President of Oaktree Community Outreach, Inc., who conceived the idea for the annual “Back To Angola Festival,” is a Bahamian living in the Florida diaspora. She was born in Nassau, but has deep familial roots in Stanyard Creek, Andros. The previous two “Back To Angola Festivals” received strong support from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, and we certainly hope that this one also will after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.)
