Blue Jamboree comes to town October 5
October 7, 2019
With over 3,000 attendees, the Blue Jamboree held at The Bend in North Charleston on Oct. 5 housed union strikes and protests, marching bands and speeches from 2020 presidential candidates.
The event, held annually since 2010, features live entertainment jazz bands, food trucks and jump castles, attracting thousands of Democrats from South Carolina to the event each year. Venders lined up in what is called “the village” included various local and national campaigns and organizations like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood.
But this year was different.
With the 2020 election gaining speed, this year’s Blue Jam held more importance.
The event, opening up at 8:30 a.m., was met with close to 100 Kamala Harris supporters and campaign volunteers in yellow, serving doughnuts and coffee at the entrance to the event. Speeches were held all day long by local politicians and 2020 democratic presidential candidates Michael Bennett, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Tom Steyer, John Delaney and Andrew Yang.
In with a sea of red and yellow, Kamala Harris arrived at the annual event to make a speech at noon, marching in the event with her team all in yellow, simultaneously with a large group of McDonald’s strikers and minimum wage protesters.
Tom Steyer made his entrance with the Benedict College marching band, despite the gray weather that Saturday.
The event was a chance for Democrats of Charleston to come together to learn more about the candidates and connect with each other. The event was marked by important speakers and political engagement among the Charleston community.