Zora! Festival and The XIIIth CAAR Biennale Conference, Eatonville-Orlando, Florida

The review outlines the history, the major topics and events of the ZORA! Festival of the Arts and Humanities and the XIIIth CAAR biennale conference which took place on January 26 – February 3, 2019 at the UCF, Orlando and Eatonville. The first ZORA! Festival was presented in 1990 by the Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. Since that time till now the festival aims at three major goals: to celebrate the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston, to underline the historic significance of her hometown, Eatonville, and to preserve the contribution made by the people of African descent to the American and world cultural history. The Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) held its 13th biennial international conference “With Harp and Sword: Navigating and Resisting the Second Nadir” in Orlando, Florida, January 30 – February 2, 2019. This conference was unique because of its partnership with the University of Central Florida and ZORA! Festival. The guest speaker was Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple. Her presence at the 30th annual ZORA! Festival was noteworthy because she was the speaker at the first festival.