What We Do
Our Programs
From our signature Willingboro Kwanzaa Festival to our artistic workshops and humanities panels, every In FACT program is rooted in the living traditions of the African diaspora — and designed to build community, preserve culture, and inspire change.
Arts Guild New Jersey / Burlington City Arts Collaborative
New Jersey Soul Line Dance Festival
Saturday, July 11 · 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Burlington County Riverfront, Burlington, NJ
Get ready to move, groove, and celebrate! Come out to the Burlington County Riverfront for an electrifying day of soul line dancing, live music, and pure community joy. Follow and dance alongside New Jersey's finest instructors, feel the energy of incredible live performers, and connect with hundreds of fellow dance lovers. Bring your family, bring your friends, and bring your dancing shoes — dance like nobody's watching! Beginner or advanced - You are sure to have a blast. Your registration includes all the information you will need, including NJ Transit and parking details. Presented by In FACT, Inc. as part of Second Saturdays, Burlington City — a project of Arts Guild New Jersey's Burlington City Arts Collaborative, supported by the NJEDA A.R.T. Phase II Grant Program.
Artistic Director: Kenny J
Emcees: Lady Steph and Audrey Carter
NJ Premiere Instructors: Rasheed Bellamy, Shar Bostic, Janet Bowe-White, Ron Grays, Toot Hardy El, Randi O'Neal, Bob Terruso, Najah Riker, Debbie Taylor, Evonne Williams, Renee Wimberly
Live Artists: Showtyme, Grace Little, Mary Cross and the UGO Band
Take the America 250 Challenge!
The first 25 participants to log 25,000 steps win a gift basket. Lace up and get stepping!
Seeking Food Trucks and Vendors for Marketplace
South Jersey Folk Arts & Living Traditions Festival
Saturday, October 10 · 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Burlington County Riverfront, Burlington, NJ
Come alive on the Burlington County Riverfront for a spectacular day of folk arts, living traditions, and community celebration! The Second Saturday in October transforms the Riverfront into a vibrant outdoor festival filled with the sights, sounds, and flavors of South Jersey's rich cultural heritage. Be moved by live folk music, folk dance, and captivating storytelling performances on the Riverfront pavilion. Explore hands-on workshops where you can try your hand at dollmaking, healing arts, and folk art traditions. Jump into the Games We Play — interactive street games that bring generations together. Taste your way through interactive foodways demonstrations and the beloved Tales of Two Tastes experience. Browse unique creations from material folk artists and local vendors. There is something for everyone — come curious, leave inspired!
Check back for more information and registration.
Freedom's Way: In FACT's Big Read Project
Presented by In FACT, Inc. · Burlington County, NJ · Dates TBA
In FACT, Inc. is proud to presentFreedom's Way, our NEA Big Read community reading program centered on Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. This arts and humanities initiative invites the Burlington County community to come together through shared reading, cultural programming, panel discussions, and artistic exploration — tracing the enduring legacy of freedom, resistance, and resilience in American life.
Free books will be available for registrants who sign up for the full program. Programming includes community discussions, humanities panels, cultural performances, and artistic workshops. Stay tuned for 2026 and 2027 event dates.This project is being held in partnership with the Underground Railroad of Burlington County and the Burlington Quaker Meeting House.
Signature Programs
Flagship Initiatives
Annual Willingboro Kwanzaa Festival
The Annual Willingboro Kwanzaa Festival is In FACT's signature event — a free, community-wide celebration of the seven principles of Kwanzaa (Nguzo Saba). Each year, the festival brings together families, elders, artists, and community members for a day of ceremony, performance, marketplace, and Karamu (feast).
- Ancestral Litany & Candle Lighting Ceremony
- Cultural Marketplace with local vendors
- Karamu — communal feast
- Live music, drumming & dance performances
- Storytelling & spoken word
- Children's activities & workshops
Burlington Quaker Meeting House, Burlington, NJ
Created by DBD Creative Agency
Storytelling & Oral Tradition
Storytelling is at the heart of In FACT's work. Founder Karen "Queen Nur" Abdul-Malik is an internationally recognized master storyteller, and oral tradition programming runs through everything we do. From school residencies to community performances, we bring the power of story to audiences of all ages.
- Community storytelling performances
- Storytelling Residencies
- Intergenerational story circles
- African & African American oral tradition workshops
- Griots & keepers of tradition presentations
- Story-based healing and wellness programs
Schools, libraries, and community venues across South Jersey
Tale of Two Tastes — Foodways
Tale of Two Tastes is In FACT's experiential foodways program — an immersive exploration of the food cultures of two African Diasporic traditions. Each event pairs culinary history, cultural context, and community gathering to illuminate how food carries memory, identity, and resistance across generations.
- Comparative foodways of two African Diasporic traditions
- Culinary history presentations
- Community cooking demonstrations
- Cultural context and storytelling
- Communal dining experience
- Recipe sharing and food documentation
Burlington City Riverfront Promenade
In FACT Youth Storytelling Group
The ancestors spoke. Now it's their turn. Young griots ages 7–18 gather bi-monthly in a vibrant, highly creative space where the African Oral Tradition is not just studied — it is lived. Participants learn to conduct fieldwork in their own communities, carry out cultural research, retell folktales in their own creative style, lift the stories off the pages, and breathe life into pass-down tales that have traveled generations. They write original stories rooted in the Black experience, and train in the sacred elements of Blackstorytelling — voice, rhythm, call-and-response, embodiment, and the power of presence.
This is not a class. It is a movement. The group operates like a nonprofit organization, complete with its own officers — building leadership, accountability, and collective purpose from the inside out. These young storytellers perform locally and nationally, carrying the tradition forward with fire, pride, and purpose.
Ilyas performing at Willingboro Kwanzaa Fest
More Ways We Serve
Additional Programs & Services
Community Documentation
We document heritage through best practices in fieldwork, taking oral histories and videography. In partnership with Queen Nur, In FACT documented community voices, stories, and traditions as part of the Community on the Line Collection for the Library of Congress — preserving living history for future generations.
Cultural Workshops
Hands-on workshops in traditional crafts, music, dance, and cultural practices rooted in African and African American heritage. Designed to deepen community engagement and expand cultural access, these sessions invite participants of all ages and skill levels to connect with living traditions — not as observers, but as active contributors to a shared cultural legacy.
Creative Aging Programs
Age is not a barrier — it is a badge of honor. Our Creative Aging programs ignite the wisdom, memory, and spirit of elder community members through the power of storytelling, folk arts, and cultural expression. These highly interactive residencies spark joy, deepen connection, and remind us all that the tradition lives in those who have carried it the longest.
Volunteer & Community Engagement
In FACT always welcomes volunteers and community collaborators. We believe the community is both the audience and the artist — everyone has a role to play.
Get InvolvedBring a Program to Your Community
Interested in hosting a storytelling performance, cultural workshop, or foodways event? We partner with schools, libraries, faith communities, and cultural organizations across South Jersey and beyond.