Sunset Jamz weekly event on Mosquito Beach connects the community
by Jenny Peterson | Staff Writer
Every Tuesday, community preservationists welcome everyone to come out and enjoy historic Mosquito Beach in James Island with a weekly sunset concert and community gathering, with local music, food vendors and kids’ activities.
Just four miles from Folly Beach, the Mosquito Beach Sunset Jamz event welcomes all ages to its storied marshfront living room from 5-9 p.m., with several performers playing sets, vendors serving ribs right off the grill, other local vendors selling homemade treats, homemade products and more.
The event is BYOB, pet-friendly and attendees are welcome to bring blankets and chairs, or lounge on the wooden Adirondack chairs and benches spread throughout the gathering area.
The Mosquito Beach Historic District is on the National Register and the Sunset Jamz event is at the tip of the rural road, with plenty of parking.
Attendees are welcome to simply take in the 180-degree view of the marsh and enjoy the music, with a stage set up near a bright turquoise beach shack, or dive into the fascinating local culture of the “floating city” of the Quaponda tribe.
Indeed, “this is a family-friendly community gathering, celebrating cultural unity, social equality and historic land preservation through live music, good food, creativity, love and positive vibes,” organizers state.
The multi-cultural Quaponda tribe, formed in 1988, celebrates four native Gullah-Indian women who many generations ago first beat a drum on the water on Mosquito Beach, built out the beach, harvested, traded and prayed on the land.
A $10 entrance fee to the Sunset Jamz event goes towards the newly-formed Gullah Convention and Visitors Bureau, which aims to preserve and raise awareness of the unique community. Attendees are given a map and brief history of the area along with information on how to become a member of the Gullah CVB and Kids Club, which includes member events throughout the year.
For those interested in digging deeper into the community, many members and volunteers—and even Quaponda Chief Halo Quaponda—are happy to discuss the tribe with Sunset Jamz attendees at the event in a casual and informative way, including how Mosquito Beach has been instrumental in connecting the African American and Native American community for generations, providing a spot to gather and make connections with one another.
“We in the Quaponda tribe are free Indians,” Chief Quaponda said, adding that there are around 30 members of the matriarchal tribe who are direct descendants, with queens and many elders. “There’s a huge gap in Charleston’s corporate structure where they only talk about Gullah stories and slaves, they don’t talk about natives. I’m not African; I’m German, Creek Indian and Irish.”
The Mosquito Beach Sunset Jamz weekly concerts launched in March and each week promises a rotating pop-up vendors and musicians, many culled from personal friends and connections of Danny May, who co-owned Tobin’s Market restaurant and music venue downtown and thought that weekly music series events were a great, accessible way to get members of the community to the area.
May said Tobin’s Market used to hold a Sunday Farmer’s Market run by Chief Halo, who also runs the Folly Beach Farmer’s Market (which has been on hiatus since the COVID pandemic). May became curious about the culture of the tribe and about Mosquito Beach and wanted to bring more awareness and appreciation to the public.
“The focus is to bridge the gap between our two cultures,” May said. “This is their historic land and it’s been largely ignored. We thought, maybe ‘Let’s do something similar to an Awendaw Green, but out here near Folly.’”
In late April, nearly two dozen attendees enjoyed the well-run event, with many children running around the property together, partaking in the children’s crafts station and racing the water’s edge to check out a scurrying crab.
It was the first time Lorraine Bergman, who lives in downtown Charleston, had been to Mosquito Beach. “We saw Tobin’s Market promoted it and we decided to check it out,” said Bergman. “We didn’t even know all this was back here. It’s wonderful.”
Local vendor, Gloria, who has lived on James Island nearly her whole life, was selling her homemade Charleston Chewies treats for a reasonable $1.25 for two squares—nutty and delicious—along with homemade rum cake.
“I love (this event), it’s like back in the day, only a little different because they used to have a boardwalk and a band we’d be dancing on that boardwalk and you could just sit out here and have a beer,” she said. “It used to be packed; cars would be lined up to the end of Beach Road.”
Organizers have created this new opportunity for the community to congregate every week, celebrate life and make new friends.
Chief Quaponda hopes that attendees come for the music and stay for the history.
Through support from the Gullah Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, “Sunset Jamz is an event that will coincide with a daily live tour (of Mosquito Beach),” Chief Quaponda says. “We don’t just reenact; it’s cooking, singing, gathering for tribal council. This beach being an unincorporated territory it’s like an island away from Charleston. This is really a sacred island.”
The weekly event plans to continue for the foreseeable future, along with additional special events and new programs—especially programs for children—that highlight these special people and this special place. Folly Beach Farmers Market has partnered with Mosquito Beach Farmers market, which will be open in full swing in May 2023.
Chief Quaponda states there are around 1,000 members of the Gullah Convention and Visitor’s Bureau supporting these efforts.
“We want people to become members of the Gullah CVB so that we can have a larger impact on Charleston as a whole to show that tourism can be more culturally and community based,” said Willis Quaponda, chair of the tribe. “We eventually are going to do more of a spotlight on history and having people tell their own stories. But now we are building the crowd, building the memberships, building a base of people who are growing in a deeper understanding.”
Mosquito Beach is located on Mosquito Beach Road, off of Sol Legare Road. Cash or credit cards are accepted at the entrance; bring cash for vendors. For more information, visit www.quaponda.com.
