Sweetgrass Festival is Saturday in Mount Pleasant

The Sweetgrass Festival returns to Memorial Waterfront Park this Saturday. Event organizers promise arts and crafts, song and dance, foods and fun stuff for the kids in the annual event that pays homages to region's Gullah-Geechee heritage.

The two-day event starts with the "Real Taste of Gullah Banquet" starts at 6 p.m. tonight at Mount Pleasant Waterfront Memorial Park Visitors Center Cooper River Room. The festival starts at noon Saturday and runs through 8 p.m. at the park.

This year, the festival will feature the Imani Milele Children’s Choir from Uganda. The performance group features African traditional dance and a drum routine. The choir performs across the country. (Watch the amazing YouTube video attached to this story.)

The festival puts on display some of the region's most talented sweetgrass basket makers. They offer hands-on basket making demonstrations that showcase their centuries-old techniques.

The festival is designed to educate, entertain and expose visitors to the Gullah-Geechee peoples' history and culture through an assortment of folklores, gospel music, Adande African Drummers and Dancers and much more.

The family fun atmosphere provides water slides, jump castles and an assortment of arts and crafts projects for children to enjoy. Savor mouth-watering delicious Gullah Cuisine dishes provided by Lowcountry food vendors and restaurants. More than 15 restaurants are expected to offer cuisine at the festival.

There is no admission fee for the event. For more information, visit www.sweetgrassfestival.org.