New Bern Jonkonnu Band

Children’s Museum of Virginia

Saturday, December 7:11-11:30am and 2-2:30pm

Commemorate 400 years of African-American history with the sights and sounds of the New Bern Jonkonnu Band. See a 19^th Century African-American Yule Tide tradition come to life during a parade of vibrant post-colonial period costumes, energetic dance, and powerful percussion music played on traditional African instruments. Hear the songs that expressed the enslaved African’s hope for a better future, provided road maps and signals for those seeking to escape bondage, or to merely spread the latest gossip about the private lives of rich planters and businessmen of the time. Performance will take place inside the Children’s Museum of Virginia followed by sidewalk parades to the Portsmouth Public Libraries Main Branch on Court St.