Everett’s Nubian Jam celebrates Black history, culture

Published 1:30 am Sunday, July 26, 2026

EVERETT — Hundreds made their way to Everett’s Forest Park on Saturday to take part in the 33rd annual Nubian Jam, an event celebrating Black culture in Snohomish County.

The event, hosted by the nonprofit Snohomish County Black Heritage Committee, brought together musicians, elected officials and food and clothing vendors for a day-long event honoring Black history and culture. As the festivities commenced on Saturday, some started impromptu barbecues on the Forest Park lawn or played catch with a football.

The Nubian Jam began in 1993, the same year that the Black Heritage Committee was created. The committee’s founder, and the organizer of the first Nubian Jam, was Marilyn Quincy, a longtime local historian who died in 2025. She had sought to create an event that connected community members, allowing them to reminisce and share memories with one another, she told The Daily Herald in 2023.

Tony Quincy, Marilyn’s son, said on Saturday that more than three decades ago, the event was much more informal, akin to a “family barbecue,” he said. But over time, it’s grown exponentially into an event that brings an entire community together, he said.

“The way I like to describe it to other people is it’s like Oktoberfest for Black people,” Quincy said Saturday. “Everybody is welcome, it’s just like recognizing our culture.”

The event also featured a historical display, marking significant moments in Black American history from the beginning of slavery in the early 1600s to modern achievements in civil rights in more recent years.

“When you see it laid out like this, we were oppressed for a long time,” said Georgia Payne, who put together the timeline and sewed historical quilts to go along with it. “And even though we’ve had civil rights since the 1960’s, a lot of those things they’re trying to reverse. So it’s still relevant.”

Payne said she hoped that the timeline, and the Nubian Jam as a whole, could share some of the accomplishments that Black people have made and help bring people together.

“Now it’s grown, and more people are supporting it both financially and with their presence,” Payne said of the jam. “It’s an event that the community looks forward to every year.”

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.