The 2025 Airing of the Quilts Festival -- set for Saturday, October 4, in the Gee's Bend community of Wilcox County -- promises to spotlight the area's world-renowned quiltmakers while also celebrating the community's cultural significance.
Now in its fourth year, the 2025 Airing of the Quilts Festival added global sportswear brand Adidas as its presenting partner for an event that honors the living history of Gee's Bend from the area's origins to its significant role in the American Civil Rights Movement and its current fame as one of America's most renowned artist communities.
"The festival gives visitors the opportunity to meet quilters, learn about the area's history, and become immersed in the area's incredible cultural significance," said Kim V. Kelly, executive director of the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy.
The festival, which was named to Garden & Gun magazine's 2025 Bucket List, drew 2,100 people to Gee's Bend in 2024, and organizers expect at least 2,500 visitors this year.
Gee's Bend quilters have garnered international fame for their unique quilt-making, and the festival honors the community's history of quilt-making with interactive programming, food trucks, entertainment and live musical performances. Visitors to the Airing of the Quilts also take part in quilting demonstrations and storytelling from the descendants of generations of Gee's Bend quilters.
This year's festival features the unveiling of an exhibition dedicated to Dinah Miller (née Jenkins), who was kidnapped in Africa and brought to Alabama in 1860 aboard the last known slave ship to enter U.S. waters, the Clotilda. The exhibit is titled "Between History and Memory: Dinah Miller's Legacy in Gee's Bend."
Miller settled in Gee's Bend in 1890 and is the earliest known quilter in the area. Her descendants rank among the area's most renowned quilters.
"This new exhibition will clearly celebrate Dinah's life, tell her unique and inspirational story, and honor her immense contributions to the Gee's Bend community," Kelly said.
On October 2, during the week before the festival, Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy will also debut its newly designed quilt workshop/learning space and posthumously dedicate the facility to the Reverend Lonnie Brown Jr., a community advocate who passed away earlier this year. The facility was built thanks to funding from The Daniel Foundation of Alabama and a grant from the Alabama State Council of the Arts.
The new workshop space will be open for use and tours during the festival. "This facility will give visitors an opportunity to sit down and learn about them, learn about their history and get an intimate lesson in their artistry throughout the year, not just during the festival," Kelly said.
The Airing of the Quilts Festival is hosted by organizing sponsors Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy, Sew Gee's Bend Heritage Builders, and Souls Grown Deep. This festival is open to the public.
The event is free with a recommended contribution of $40 to support the Gee's Bend quilt-making community. For the second straight year, the festival will offer a hop-on/hop-off bus service for $25 that will visit the homes of Gee's Bend quilters, as well as the festival.
"The Airing of the Quilts is clearly one of the very best cultural events in the Black Belt," said Pam Swanner, director of the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association, ALBBAA. "Our organization is honored to support this annual event, and I urge anyone who hasn't been to the festival to make plans now. You'll be enriched by the quilt-makers' artistry, enjoy shopping the many vendors, listening to great music and feasting on delicious locally prepared dishes. This immersive cultural experience can't be found anywhere else in the world."