Producers of the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities (ZORA! Festival) will pay tribute to Pulitzer Prize recipient Alice Walker, during its 30th anniversary banquet Saturday, February 2, 2019, 6:00 pm at University of Central Florida Pegasus Ballroom. The first ZORA! Festival was presented in 1990 by the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.), a small, non-profit, historic preservation/cultural arts organization which was doing everything in its power to protect Eatonville, Florida, known popularly as “the oldest incorporated African-American municipality in the United States”, from a community-busting road project. According to N.Y. Nathiri, executive director of the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community and the general manager of the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, “When Alice Walker agreed to be the inaugural banquet speaker in 1990, her appearance elevated, not only the event, but also the organization’s mission. Walker’s return to the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities is indicative of the real-world signifcance of the ZORA! Festival. Today, more than ever, the arts and humanities have the ability to play a significant role in the well-being of the nation. As the ZORA! Festival continues to celebrate the life and work of its namesake; to celebrate the historic significance of her hometown; and to celebrate the cultural contributions of people of African ancestry, how important it is that Walker, an artist, known and respected for her activist spirit, would make the time to return to an event for which she did so much to establish its worth.”
