History, Natural History & the Arts
An 1881 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine contained an article entitled “A Glimpse of an Old Dutch Town.” The Old Dutch Town was Albany. Albany was already 200 years old.
The article mentioned the principal Albany holidays of Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter and Pinksterfeest (now known as Pinksterfest). [Read more…] about Pinksterfest: Albany’s Dutch-African Spring Festival
On April 22, 2017 from 11 am to 4 pm, Crailo State Historic Site will host a Pinkster celebration featuring the performance and education group, The Children of Dahomey.
Once a Dutch holiday commemorating Pentecost, Pinkster became a distinctly African American holiday in the Hudson River Valley during the colonial era. During the 17th and 18th centuries, enslaved and free African Americans transformed Pinkster from a Dutch religious observance into a spring festival and a celebration of African cultural traditions. All along the Hudson River and on Albany’s “Pinkster Hill” (the current site of the NYS Capitol), enslaved African Americans reunited with family and friends and celebrated Pinkster with storytelling, food, music, and dance. Other Pinkster traditions, like the selection of the Pinkster King, created opportunities for enslaved African Americans to honor respected members of the community and to subtly mock their white enslavers. [Read more…] about Pinkster Celebration at Fort Crailo Saturday