Join with UREC on Saturday, June 3, 2023 from 11AM–4PM at Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site for Pinkster, a celebration of family, hope, and cultural identity. With roots dating to New York’s Dutch colonial period, this modern Pinkster festival is a way to recognize the importance of African cultural influences on music, dance, and identity during New York’s colonial and early American period. Pinkster is free and open to the public. The family-friendly festivities will feature musical performances by Yorkie Nelson from Ghana and The Pinkster Players, plus participatory dance, live music, fabric stamping, and food. In addition, there will be open house style tours of Schuyler Mansion and a special exhibition. Historically, Pinkster was an event that was shaped and developed over the 18th century by the cultural traditions brought to the Hudson River Valley by people from West and Central Africa and their descendants, who were enslaved by colonists. The holiday- which was originally a Dutch religious observance – evolved into a spring festival at which time enslaved men and women reunited with friends and loved ones to form their own new traditions in storytelling, music, dance, food – and the coveted selection of the Pinkster King.