Plan your visit.
Enjoy hop-on, hop-off tours.
Tour Highlights:
Unlimited Rides: Hop on and off as many times as you like throughout the day, making it easy to explore different parts of the festival at your own pace.
Key Stops: Visit notable locations along the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail, including stops at various makers' sites and the historic Boykin Mercantile.
Guided Insights: Learn about the rich history and culture of Gee’s Bend from our knowledgeable guides as you travel between stops.
Family-Friendly: Perfect for families, with children under 12 riding free when accompanied by a paid adult.
Details:
Price: $25 per person (children under 12 ride free with a paid adult)
Duration: All-day access
Schedule: Shuttles run every 20 minutes from 9:00 am—4:00 pm during the festival
Guests receive a wristband at check-in and are transported in an air-conditioned motorbus in a hop-on-hop-off format.
Enhance your festival experience with our convenient Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus Tours! Ticket holders enjoy unlimited rides throughout the day, and children under 12 ride free with a paid adult. Discover all that Gee’s Bend has to offer with ease and comfort.
Participate in a workshop.
Step into the heart of Gee’s Bend and learn from the women who shaped its quilting legacy. In each 1.5-hour workshop, two celebrated Gee’s Bend quilters will welcome participants with personal introductions and stories that bring their artistry, perspective, and history to life.
Beginners’ Quilting workshops | cost: $150
Workshops will be held in the air-conditioned Nutrition Center on the festival grounds, offering a comfortable, focused setting for learning. Beginner Workshops are hands-on sessions where each participant receives step-by-step instruction to create their own 12" x 12" quilt square. All materials are included.
Workshops are limited to 12 participants and are suitable for ages 8 and up. Each attendee must have their own ticket. To maintain a quality experience for all, we cannot accommodate additional guests or unregistered children.
Nutrition Center location | 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm
Visit our exhibitions.
Exhibitions at the River Gallery, located inside the Gee’s Bend Welcome Center, explore the history and contemporary life of Gee’s Bend.
This year’s exhibition, Between History & Memory: Dinah Miller's Legacy in Gee's Bend honors the life, family, and enduring legacy of Dinah Miller (née Jenkins), who was forcibly brought to Alabama from West Africa as a young girl in 1860 likely aboard the last known slave ship to enter US waters, the Clotilda, 52 years after Congress outlawed the importation of enslaved people.
Having settled in Gee’s Bend in the 1890s, Dinah is the earliest known named quilter in the area and the progenitor of a vast familial network of Gee’s Bend quilters that flourishes artistically to this day. This exhibition, curated by Souls Grown Deep, aims to celebrate and contextualize Dinah’s life within a broader historical framework, telling the story of one individual's arrival in Gee's Bend and her enduring influence on the community, its cultural traditions, and the history of American art.
Storytelling with Tangular Irby.
Join us at the Kids’ Creative Corner for storytelling featuring Gee’s Bend descendant and author Tangular A. Irby and her book Pearl and Her Gee’s Bend Quilt :
“When Pearl schedules a playdate with her friends Sallie and Ella, they have no idea they’re about to travel back in time to Gee’s Bend, Alabama to discover the origin of the beautiful quilts in Grandma’s house.”
Learn more about the author here.
There’s more to see.
There's so much more to explore beyond the festival grounds!
Attendees are encouraged to take advantage of the community-wide offerings, including additional quilt displays outside the homes of local residents along County Road 29. Discover the rich cultural heritage, connect with the locals, and immerse yourself in the vibrant artistry that extends throughout the entire community. Don't miss the opportunity to fully experience the charm and creativity that make Gee's Bend so special.
Discover the Legacy of the Freedom Quilting Bee: Guided Tours with Local Docents
The Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy invites you to explore a community whose contributions to American culture are unrivaled. Local docents will provide guided tours of the museum, where visitors will learn about the rich history of the space and its deep connection to the Civil Rights Movement. Engage with the extraordinary women who uphold this tradition of activism and artistic excellence in Alberta and Gee’s Bend to this day. No advanced registration is required.
Please note that the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy is located in Alberta, AL, and is a 15-minute drive from the festival grounds. A free shuttle to and from the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy will be available on the day of the festival.
Follow the Gee’s Bend Heritage Trail
This self-guided driving tour allows you to explore the community and its quiltmaking heritage at your own pace. Located close to where their creators lived and worked, Heritage Trail markers feature full-size reproductions of the quilts, biographical information, personal stories, and photographs of their makers. Be sure to visit the latest addition to the trail, A Timeline History of Gee’s Bend from 1816 to the Present.
Heritage Trail maps are available at the Gee’s Bend Welcome Center in Boykin and the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy in Alberta, or you can download the mobile map (as cell service may be unreliable, it is recommended that you do so in advance).
Experience Authentic Storytelling with Gee's Bend Author Tinnie Pettway
Don't miss the chance to meet Gee's Bend author Tinnie Pettway. Join us at the historic Boykin Mercantile building, where Tinnie will read excerpts and share captivating stories from her book, The Gee's Bend Experience. Immerse yourself in the rich history and personal narratives that define this remarkable community as Tinnie brings the spirit and legacy of Gee's Bend to life through her words.
Traveling with your Quilt Guild?
Quilt Guild Demonstration Day – October 3, 2025
Make the most of your visit by joining a special pre-festival experience designed just for quilt guilds. On Friday, October 3, the Freedom Quilting Bee Legacy invites guilds to participate in hands-on quilt demonstrations led by local quilters and storytellers.
Held inside the historic Freedom Quilting Bee building, each three-hour session includes collaborative quilting, storytelling from the Speakers Bureau, a shared meal, and a handmade gift for each participant. Guilds will leave with a deeper understanding of Gee’s Bend’s rich legacy of artistry, activism, and community.
Session times: 10 AM–1 PM or 2 PM–5 PM
Group size: 15–40 guild members
Cost: $200 per person
Register for the festival.
Join the Gee’s Bend community in this annual celebration of its generations-old quiltmaking tradition, featuring quilt displays and sales, workshops, guided tours, food, music, and more.