FOCUS: 35th annual MOJA Festival starts Thursday

Image courtesy City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs

Staff reports  |  Eleven days of fun, exciting events ranging from dance, music and theatre that celebrate African-American and Caribbean arts are about to take off.

The 35^th annual MOJA Arts Festival launches Thursday and will run through Oct. 7 with a rich variety of traditional favorites that make the festival continue as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s 20 top events of the year.  Even better:  Nearly half of MOJA’s events are admission-free, and the remainder are offered at  modest ticket prices.

“Moja,” a Swahili word meaning “one,” is the appropriate name for this festival celebration of harmony among all people in our community, according to the festival’s website.

This year’s festival highlights the many African-American and Caribbean contributions to western and world cultures. MOJA’s events include visual arts, classical music, dance, gospel, jazz, poetry, R&B music, storytelling, theatre, children’s activities, traditional crafts, ethnic food, and much, much more. In addition to its myriad arts presentations, MOJA also includes an active and busy educational outreach component of workshops in the public schools and senior outreach in senior citizen homes.

• Click here for a calendar of events.
• Click here for a program guide you can download.
• Click here to learn about this year’s poster artist, John Christopher Wright II.

The MOJA Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary festival produced and directed by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the MOJA Planning Committee, a community arts and cultural group, and the MOJA Advisory Board, a group of civic leaders who assist with fundraising and advocacy.

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