NEWSLETTER
Yonkers, N.Y. — Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is pleased to present a Pinkster Festival for the general public on Saturday, May 20, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This free, family-friendly event celebrates the historic Afro-Dutch festival of Pinkster.
Pinkster comes from the Dutch word for Pentecost and was a Dutch religious holiday and a celebration of spring. In the Dutch colony of New Netherland, enslaved Africans combined the Christian traditions of Pentecost with elements of African celebrations to create the unique festival known as Pinkster, one of the few times in the year when enslaved people could travel to visit family and keep cultural traditions alive.
Pinkster celebrations historically featured African music and dance, vendors, food and drink, games, and more. Pinkster was an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to gather and celebrate spring. Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site’s Pinkster Festival will feature performances by the Pinkster Players featuring Chief Baba Neil Clarke, musical performers Carla & Keyes, food, vendors, historical programs, children’s games and activities, and more.
Philipse Manor Hall is still accepting vendor applications. 10’x10’ spaces are just $25. For more information and to apply, visit www.philipsemanorhall.com/blog/call-for-vendors.
For more information on Pinkster and for updates on performers, schedule, and more, visit www.philipsemanorhall.com/programs-and-events/pinkster-festival.
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, located at 29 Warburton Ave., Yonkers, NY, 10701, is open for tours Wednesdays through Sundays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Dating back to the 1680s, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site sits near the confluence of the Nepperhan (Saw Mill) and Hudson Rivers, the site of a Munsee Lunaape village. Used by four generations of the Philipse family and worked by the people they enslaved and European tenant farmers, the Philipse Manor was once over 200,000 acres and helped make the Philipse family the richest in New York. Loyalists during the American Revolution, they fled to England and the Hall was owned by several individuals before becoming the Yonkers Village Hall and later Yonkers City Hall. When a new City Hall was built in the early 20th century, the house was preserved through the generosity of Eva Smith Cochran and donated to New York State to serve as a historic site. Today, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site provides visitors with a balanced approach to interpreting the lives of Indigenous, European, and African people to understand the complex relationships that took place at the Manor from the earliest days of the Dutch Colony of New Netherland to the American Revolution and beyond. Learn more at Philipse Manor Hall's Virtual Wing at www.philipsemanorhall.com.
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual parks, historic sites, recreational trails, and boat launches, which were visited by a record 79.5 million people in 2022. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit parks.ny.gov, connect on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter
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