EAST POINT, Ga. — Currently, members of the Native American community are making their way to Fulton County where the City of East Point is hosting their Inaugural Standing Peachtree Native American Festival and Powwow.
Participants will come from across the country for the free two-day event to honor the Muscogee Creek Land the city sits on.
East Point’s Public Arts Coordinator, Christopher Swain told 11Alive that this is the first opportunity for the city to “have an event totally based on the indigenous people who inhabited space before it was East Point.”
He explained this is the first festival of its kind to come to the southside of Atlanta, but hopes this inauguration will allow the community to recognize the significance of experiencing the diversity of the city.
“It's really important for us to learn more about each other. We can't really get along with each other. We can celebrate each other. We can't respect each other until we learn more about ourselves and learn who we really are,” Swain said.
The festival will have numerous activities and entertainment including traditional handmade crafts, flute music, drumming and authentic food.
While the event is free, Swain believes this is a chance for the community to support the indigenous community in more ways than one.
“It's an educational opportunity to learn more about indigenous people and also to support the Indigenous community by spending your money with Indigenous people,” he explained. “So that's really important to us, not to just uplift the indigenous community through entertainment, but to support them financially as well.”
The festival and powwow will take place Aug. 20-21 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the front lawn of City Hall.
Lawn chairs will be available for seating.
