By Morgan Lawrence
The restored historic marker at Congo Square will be unveiled at 3 p.m. at the Congo Square Sacred Marketplace on Sunday, July 30. Restoration of the plaque was made possible by the City of New Orleans Park & Parkways.
The Congo Square Sacred Marketplace will feature vendors with products and food from New Orleans and the African diaspora. In addition there will be children’s activities, health screenings, drumand dance workshops, tours of the Sculpture Garden in Armstrong Park and performances by: Bamboula 2000, Kalamu ya Salaam, the Arrowhead Brass Band, the Young Guardians of the Flame, Lucky Lou &
Sess 4-5.
The Congo Square Sacred Marketplace will operate from noon until 6 p.m. on the following Sundays throughout 2017:
July 30 — Dedication of the refurbished Congo Square plaque.
Aug. 27 — To honor Resiliency of New Orleans
Oct. 1 — Dances & Rhythms of Cuba & Haiti
Nov. 24 — Contemporary Dances with Roots in Congo Square hosted by Oz Cooper
Dec. 3 —The premiere of the first act of “CODE NOIR”, an historic outdoor theatrical production written by Tommye Myrick.
The Congo Square Preservation Society’s vision for this Sacred Ground resulted in National Register of Historic Place status in 1993, Congo Square Marker in 1997, sculptures and weekly Sunday gatherings that have brought hundreds of thousands together from every corner of the world to drum, dance, pray, and honor their ancestors. Since 1989, the Congo Square Preservation Society has researched the profound history of Congo Square, listened and learned from lifelong residents of Treme, young residents of Covenant House and pre-K children who have attended our Congo Square Living Classroom Field trips.
