Airing the Quilts Festival Set for Saturday in Gees Bend

From the West Alabama Newsroom–

If you’re looking for something — fun and different to do this weekend. You may want to head over to Wilcox County — for the first-ever Airing of the Quilts Festival.

The festival showcases the famed Gee Bend quilts — the artists who make them — and the community they’re from.

Gees Bend quilts are world renowned for their quality — artistic beauty — and vibrant colors.

Now there’s a new tourism event  to give people a chance to experience the quilts — and the culture of Gee’s Bend — first hand.

The first-ever Airing of the Quilts Festival — is a community-hosted event — that will run along Wilcox County Road 29.

The festival was inspired by the tradition of pulling quilts out of storage during the fall — and airing them out — to get them ready to use in the winter.

“You’re going to see a wide variety of quilts. Maybe 200 or so quilts airing,” said Evangeline Williams.

“It is a sight to see!”

The festival will also include — music — food — vendors — and exhibits.

Photographer Stephen Pitkin is helping to create the exhibits. His work helped reveal the incredible talent in Gees Bend — to the rest of the world.

“We laid them all out. We shot them one by one and created those first images that went into all of the books that you may have seen, that went into all of the museum exhibits, all the public posters.

In fact, even half a billion US postage stamps that were published.

The festival is sponsored by the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy — in partnership with Nest — and Souls Grown Deep.

The Airing of the Quilts Festival is Saturday — from 10 am to 4 pm.