ZORA

About ZORA! Festival

Zora Festival '08 at a Glance

Festival Registration

Festival Information

Arts Programming PreK-Gr 12

HATitude Brunch

ZORA! Gala

About Zora Neale Hurston

Festival Forms

Volunteers for Zora Festival

Media Room

Profile

Now in its 19th year, the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA! Festival) is a multi-day, multi-disciplinary event.

Goals

To celebrate the life and work of 20th century writer, folklorist and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston
To celebrate the significance of her hometown, Eatonville, Florida, known as the nation's oldest incorporated African American municipality
To celebrate the cultural contributions people of African ancestry have made to the United States and world culture.

Awards

2001 "One of 25 Cultural Tourism Success Stories in the United States" - National Trust for Historic Preservation

2004 "One of the Top 100 Events in North America for 2004" - American Bus Association

National Planners

Representing an intellectual and aesthetic "brain trust," these distinguished scholars and cultural artists develop 5-year cycles of programming for ZORA! Festival.

N.Y. Nathiri - Chairperson (Eatonville, FL)

John Bersia - Special Assistant to the President University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)

Deidre Helen Crumbley, Ph.D. - Associate Professor North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC)

Harriet Elam-Thomas - Ambassador-in-Residence University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)

Terri Francis, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor Yale University (New Haven, CT)

Lois Hurston Gaston, Ph.D. - President Ybor City Campus, Hillsborough Community College (Tampa, FL)

Robert Hemenway, Ph.D. - Chancellor University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS)

M.J. Hewitt, Ph.D. - Cultural Historian Fine Art Consultant (Pacific Palisades, CA)

Richard A. Long, Ph.D. - Professor Emeritus Emory University (Atlanta, GA)

Carrie Mae Weems - Visual Artist (Syracuse, NY)

Profile
Now in its 19th year, the annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA! Festival) is a multi-day, multi-disciplinary event.

Goals
To celebrate the life and work of 20th century writer, folklorist and anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston;
To celebrate the significance of her hometown, Eatonville, Florida, known as the nation's oldest incorporated African American municipality, and
to celebrate the cultural contributions people of African ancestry have made to the United States and world culture.

Established in 1990, The Hurston is a program of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.). Its mission is to provide a place “in the heart of the community” where the public can view the work of artists of African Descent, who live on the Continent and/or in the Diaspora.

MISSION STATEMENT: The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community Inc. (P.E.C.) is a non-profit/tax-exempt historic preservation organization whose mission it is to enhance the resources of Eatonville, Florida, which is "the oldest incorporated African American municipality in the United States" and the hometown of writer, folklorist, and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston; to educate the public about Eatonville's historic and cultural significance; and to use the community's heritage and cultural vibrancy for its economic development.

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