All around the Historic Charleston City Market and dotting the northern stretch of U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant you’ll find women making sweetgrass baskets – iconic images of the Lowcountry and her African history.
Sweetgrass basket making can be traced back to West Africa, brought to the S.C. coast by African slaves. One of the oldest art forms of African artwork in the United States, Charleston is the only place where this craft is practiced in its original form.
Today these baskets are bought by locals and tourists for souvenirs and to decorate their homes, but originally they had more practical uses on the rice plantations around Charleston. Baskets were used to carry and store vegetables, fruit, grain and cotton. Plantation owners also sold baskets, bringing in additional income, according to history from the Charleston City Market.
The baskets are primarily made from sweetgrass but some are woven with bulrush, long leaf pine needles and palmetto leaves. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Celebrate the rich Gullah history and the beauty of the sweetgrass baskets at the annual Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 7 at Mt. Pleasant Waterfront Park (located under the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge).
The 10th annual festival features basket-making demonstrations and a display of handmade African dolls, arts and crafts, jewelry and more. Plus there’s a children’s area with a puppet show, face painting, jump castle and arts and crafts. Also don’t miss delicious Gullah cuisine and entertainment by local gospel choirs, storyteller, Adande drummers plus a performance by the Milele Children’s Choir from Uganda, Africa.
Festival admission and parking are free. For more details, visit sweetgrassfestival.org.
