Zora! Festival attendees will see, among many other things, RISE: The Mural Project at Elizabeth Park in Eatonville. It’s a giant mural of the homegrown folklorist accompanied by art, poems and calligraphy. There’ll also be the lively Outdoor Festival of the Arts along Kennedy Boulevard. | Courtesy Zora! Festival
How will Eatonville, one of the oldest incorporated Black townships in America and home to famed Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston, commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday? The answer lies in the joyous, richly diverse programming of the 2026 ZORA! Festival of the Arts and Humanities—a monthlong series of special events in January collectively dubbed Hurston, History and Heritage.
“We see this as an opportunity to view the American saga through the lens of people of African ancestry in this country,” says N.Y. Nathiri, festival chair and executive director of the nonprofit Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community (P.E.C.), which has presented the nationally recognized annual event since 1990.
Adds Nathiri: “The historic Black town is a specific framework that is particularly special because there are so few of these towns left.”
Indeed, scholars estimate that only about 30 of the more than 100 all-Black towns founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries still exist. The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently declared Eatonville one of the 11 Most Endangered Places in America.
For P.E.C., the key to Eatonville’s economic revival will be cultural heritage tourism, which the group hopes will attract visitors with year-round, high-quality programming that celebrates the genius of Hurston and the history of her beloved “native village.”
Orange County recently awarded P.E.C. a three-year, $1.3 million Blockbuster & Special Events grant funded by the Tourist Development Tax to support Eatonville Rising, a six‑event cultural heritage tourism series planned for 2027. That will be the 140th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Eatonville and the 90th anniversary of Hurston’s classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
In the meantime, this year’s festival will build on partnerships with arts, humanities and cultural institutions throughout the region. The program will kick off with Happy Birthday, Zora! A Virtual Celebration (Wednesday, January 7, 7:30 p.m.) at the Zora Neale Huston Museum of Fine Arts. That event will be followed by what Nathiri describes as a “powerhouse” schedule for the remainder of the month.
Highlights will include the opening of Value Test: Brown Bag (Saturday, January 24, 1 to 4 p.m.), an exhibition at the museum by interdisciplinary artist Mary Graham, who’ll give an artist talk at 2 p.m.
The so-called “brown bag test” refers to a practice, particularly within African American communities, where those with skin darker than a brown paper bag were denied entry to social events, fraternities, sororities or other elite groups.
A must-see event, this one in the Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College, will be vignettes from the original play Let the People Sing (Thursday, January 29, 7:30 p.m.). The student-written production was inspired by Hurston’s efforts to stage Sun to Sun, her self-written folklore musical, at the “The Annie” in 1932.
(Hurston was ultimately given permission to produce From Sun to Sun on campus but, to avoid controversy, the troupe was relegated to the Recreation Hall, not the more high-profile Annie Russell Theatre, where it was performed before a segregated audience.)
Concurrently, back in Eatonville, there’ll be a thought-provoking academic conference, Entering the Zoraverse: People, Places, Spaces (Thursday and Friday, January 29 and 30, times TBA). The two-day multidisciplinary gathering will feature panels, performances and lectures by leading scholars on Hurston.
The conference’s keynote address will be delivered by Deborah G. Plant, who was editor of Hurston’s previously unpublished novel The Life of Herod the Great (2025), and the New York Times bestseller Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo (2018).
Plant was also author of Zora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit (2007) and Every Tub Must Sit On Its Own Bottom: The Philosophy and Politics of Zora Neale Hurston (1995). The keynote address and the conference will be held at the historic St. Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal Church.
“This is going to be an outstanding program,” says Nathiri. “Individual genius has its own power. You have it or you don’t—and Zora Neale Hurston had it.”
And there’s more. Attendees can experience Hurston’s world firsthand with Connection to the Arts (Thursday, January 29, 8:30 to 11:45 a.m.), a Maitland-Eatonville mobile tour guided by local historians and curators who will explore spaces that shaped the writer as an adult. The tour will convene at the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Eatonville.
Among the tour stops will be the Maitland Art Center, where exhibitions manager Katie Benson and Seminole State College humanities professor Trent Tomengo will discuss Hurston’s norm-defying friendship with artist J. André Smith, founder of the complex then known as the Research Studio.
Also along the route will be St. Lawrence African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the walls are adorned with Smith’s eight-panel mural inspired by the 23rd Psalm, and the Moseley House Museum, now maintained by the Zeta Educational Thespian Association and the Florida State Leadership Conference of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
The Moseley House, the second-oldest structure in Eatonville, is the former residence of Hurston’s best friend Matilda “Tillie” Moseley, with whom the author stayed during visits back to her hometown. The white-frame, tin-roofed building contains displays of memorabilia related to the town’s history.
Finally, tour attendees will pass Hurston’s childhood homesite en route to RISE: The Mural Project at Elizabeth Park. It’s a giant mural of Hurston accompanied by artwork, poems and calligraphy that will provide a stunning backdrop for heritage tourist selfies. The work, completed in 2020, was created by a group of young local artists and creatives called Collab Studios.
Other festival activities slated will include a curated luncheon and book talk (Thursday, January 29, noon to 1:45 p.m.) with Dr. Fred Opie, a food historian who will discuss his book, Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food: Recipes, Remedies & Simple Pleasures. Fare served will be inspired by culinary research by Hurston. This scrumptious event is at the Macedonia Baptist Church in Eatonville.
Now, with their hunger sated, attendees can walk off some calories by hoofing it down to the Eatonville Branch of the Orange County Library System for Preserving Eatonville’s Legacy Through Story and Stitch (Thursday, January 29, 3:45 to 5 p.m.). Ceremonies there will celebrate the unveiling of the Eatonville History Preservation Project Quilt.
The quilt was created by fabric artist Lisa G. Moore, who used materials donated by local residents to visually communicate the stories and rich history of generations of Eatonvillians. In addition to the artist, those who will discuss the project include lifelong resident Ruthi Critton, a descendant of Joe Clark, co-founder and former mayor.
Of course, the festival’s most high-profile event will again be the popular Outdoor Festival of the Arts (Friday, January 30, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, January 31, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, February 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at the historic Robert Hungerford High School property along Kennedy Boulevard in Eatonville.
The extravaganza, for which the festival is best known, will transform the usually quiet downtown strip into a vibrant open-air museum of creativity, history and community. Through student showcases and family programs to live concerts and heritage exhibits, attendees of all ages will connect through art, food, music and storytelling.
Finally, dress to impress at Cotton Club, Reimagined (Saturday, January 31, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.), a 1930s Harlem Renaissance themed night of clubbing with live era-music performed by the Jones High Alumni and Community Band. The venue will be Eola View in Downtown Orlando.
As usual, activities surrounding the ZORA! Festival of the Arts and Humanities are in a variety of locations. Some activities are free, some require advance registration, and some are ticketed. Visit zorafestival.org for more details and the most up-to-date information.
