The 42nd annual MOJA Arts Festival will run Sept. 24 through Oct. 1 at locations across Charleston, featuring local and national performers. This is the first year the festival has been planned by MOJA Arts, a newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit created to stabilize and grow the event long-term.

The festival is shortening from 11 days to eight this year and introducing a new tradition: honoring the cultural legacies of four West African and Caribbean nations. The 2026 festival will spotlight Barbados, Gullah Geechee, Jamaica and Sierra Leone.

The festival finale at Hampton Park will highlight the 50th anniversary of several iconic 1976 albums, anchored by a free, family-friendly concert produced by Ray Chew of Chew Entertainment and Charleston’s Tommy Brown. The lineup draws from Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life,” Parliament’s “Mothership Connection,” Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Spirit,” Curtis Mayfield’s “Sparkle” soundtrack, The Isley Brothers’ “Harvest for the World,” Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” soundtrack and Roy Ayers’ “Ubiquity.”