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| Pinkster Festival,18th Century Celebration of Spring | ||||||||||
| Originally a Dutch celebration of the renewal of life after a long winter, by the nineteenth century in America, Pinkster was known as an African American Holiday. It reached its zenith between 1790 and 1810. From its Dutch roots came the spiritual aspects of giving thanks, preparations to greet the spring through building of elaborate arbors and temporary shelters, the cooking of special foods, serving of beer and wines, playing games, telling stories and singing songs. Enslaved Africans shared music, instruments, foods and rituals from their homeland and interjected ways to comment on the system that kept them from it. The first day of Pinkster corresponded with the Episcopal Whitsunday, 50th day after Easter which fell in early May. | ||||||||||
| On the second day, whites along with free and enslaved Blacks gathered to witness the grand parade of the court and arrival of King Charles, an elder elected to preside over the festival.The name of the character was taken from an Angolan born captive given the name of Charles who was highly regarded, gifted in speech, dance and athletics and claimed by an early mayor of Albany. A market was held during Pinkster for people with produce, crafts, and handmade goods to sell. As the Pinkster King walked through the market stalls and vendor tents, he would demand tribute. If anyone failed to pay, their tent or stall was removed and they were asked to leave. While he was seated on his throne people brought disputes and were bound by the king's judgment for the length of the festival. .There were exhibitions of skills and athletic contests along with storytelling and dance that were judged and rewarded. | ||||||||||
| For the Dutch, Pinkster was a religious holiday, a time to reflect, take a break from work and visit family and friends. For the enslaved Africans it was freedom eventhough temporarily where they got to revisit the songs and dances they were forbidden to do elsewhere and pass on cultural expressions. They reunited with family, exchanged information as well as goods and turned the tables on those who denied them power over their lives. The festival lasted for three to four days | ||||||||||
| In Albany, New York, the Pinkster Festival took place on the hill overlooking the Hudson River. It is where the State Capitol sits today. One of the accounts that documented Pinkster Festivals in Albany was a 1803 pamphlet entitled The Pinkster Ode attributed to Absalom Aimwell . It is a satire on the dress and customs of the Europeans as well as filled with critiques on enslavement and abolitionist sentiments. | ||||||||||
| In 1811, an Albany city ordinance banned Pinkster. Speculation ranged from the length of time workers were away from their labors, increased interest among the white upper class in more genteel enterainment to an increased free Black population who may not have wanted public displays of their African roots. Although it was later rescinded, Pinkster never returned to its status as a prominent festival. There is a re-creation of Pinkster today at the Philipsburg Manor, a historic site in Sleepy Hollow, New York. A newer spring festival minus King Charles or any references to African culture began in Albany in 1945 as the Tulip Festival. It takes place in Washington Park, north of the former Pinkster Hill. | ||||||||||