Roswell Roots Festival’s jubilee celebrates local Black contributions

From art exhibitions, movie screenings, concerts and theatrical productions, the Roswell Roots Festival uplifts Black history in events spread over the course of four weeks, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of Black History Month.

Roughly 20 miles outside Atlanta in north Fulton County, Roswell is home to sites, like antebellum plantations and historic landmarks.

Roswell City Hall (Courtesy of City of Roswell)

One of the highlights of the celebration will be the Black Experience Tour at Bulloch Hall, an antebellum plantation. The program, from 11 a.m. until noon Saturday, will look at contributions of Black people at the plantation before and after enslavement.

“We can have Black history front and center in the City of Roswell, a place where you don’t expect it,” said Roswell Roots Festival committee chair Mary Lucas.

“Everything that we do is based on five pillars. It has to be art, education, history, performance and cultural.”

The five pillars will be celebrated all month as follows:

Art

“Fragments: A Roswell Roots Juried Exhibition” features pieces of fabric, canvas and other materials artists collected to create collaged mosaics.

“Black people bring different things together,” explained “Fragments” curator Sharon Crumley.

“It’s how (Black people) operate a lot of times. A lot of us have come out of that tradition, pulling things together to make something out of a little bit of something.”

The art exhibition runs through March 27.

Education

Attendees will have ample opportunity to learn a thing or two at the Roswell Roots Festival. The family-friendly “The Rhythm of Story: Africa to America” will be held Feb. 14 and feature African folktales. Traveling the African diaspora will be told through song, instruments and traditional storytelling by children’s author Mama Koku.

Children's author Mama Kaku prepares for a day of storytelling at the Roswell Roots Festival. (Courtesy of the City of Roswell)

“Nancy Jackson: A Story of Courage and Resistance” will be presented at the Barrington Hall Barn on Feb. 28.

History

To honor the historical pillar, there will be an African American tour at Bulloch Hall, the childhood home of President Theodore Roosevelt’s mother Mittie Bulloch.

A documentary of Bailey-Johnson Elementary — a formerly segregated school for Black students — will be shown at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center Feb. 11.

The Alpharetta Colored School was erected in 1950 and renamed the Bailey-Johnson School in 1953 after a former slave and proponent of African-American educatior, Warren Johnson, and George “Hard” Bailey, donor of the land. (Courtesy of Alpharetta and Old Milton County Historical Society)

Developer plans to restore Bailey-Johnson School to honor history education for Black students. (AJC FILE)

A rededication to 1936 lynching victim Mack Henry Brown will be held Feb. 21. The initial marker placed at Riverside Park near the Chattahoochee River in 2021 was accidentally knocked down, according to Hope Mays of the Mack Henry Brown Remembrance Coalition.

“We’re looking forward to picking up the pace and having (the commemoration) as another kickoff point for lots of community discussions and events,” she said, referring to more historic events around Roswell.

Performance

There will be multiple performances throughout the month. Dad’s Garage BlackGround comedy troupe will perform a live adaptation of a Hollywood film at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center Feb. 7.

New to the festival lineup is the Roots Slam & Jam Open Mic on Feb. 13. A diverse group of performers will showcase their interpretations of Black excellence onstage. Hosted by actor Max Breaux and musician Britni Ariel, a violinist, dancer, spoken word artist, rapper, multiple vocalists among others are expected to participate.

“Young John Lewis in Concert” will be held Feb. 26.

There will be several other concerts, featuring soul, blues and jazz.

William "Blues Man" Reed and the Juke Joint Dukes to perform at the Roswell Roots Festival Feb. 28, 2026. (Courtesy of the City of Roswell)

Culture

There’s no better way to dive into the culture of Roswell than to immerse in with the community. Residents will share stories about growing up in the historic Black neighborhood of Groveway at the Pleasant Hill Church on Feb. 15.

Be part of the Bid Whist Card Party — celebrating its 12th anniversary — at the Roswell Recreation Center (Feb. 7). Never heard of bid whist? Apparently, it’s rooted in an 18th century game that, naturally, got an African American twist to it.

A bid whist player prepares for the 12th Anniversary Bid Whist Card Party to be held Feb. 7 during the Roswell Roots Festival. (Courtesy of the City of Roswell)

The history of the Roswell Roots Festival

The Groveway Community Group created the Roswell Roots Festival in 2001 as a localized celebration for Black History Month. Crumley, who moved to Roswell from California in 1992, said she was relieved to see the city take pride in its Black heritage.

Attendees of all ages listen to the speakers talking about their experiences with segregation in the '50's, and the Civil Rights Movement in the '60s. (Bob Andres/AJC)

“I thought it was about time for North Fulton to have something that represented the Black community that was here,” she said. “Since they still have plantations — not active, but representative plantations — I just thought it was a good idea to show the other side of that.”

Lucas says festival attendance increases every year because it’s become such a highly anticipated gathering. Community members take ownership in it and readily volunteer as event ambassadors.