The heritage and values of southern Gloucester County will be celebrated by the thousands of visitors that are expected to attend this weekend’s 38th annual Guinea Jubilee, which is held on the grounds of the Abingdon Ruritan Centre in Bena.

The festival opens on Friday and continues throughout the day Saturday with a parade, all types of vendors, contests, seafood galore, a car show, fireworks and more.

“We are praying all of the hurricanes stay out to sea,” said Tara Thomas, who is co-chair of the festival alongside her husband, Brook.

Thomas said there was a “fantastic turnout” for this year’s Guinea Heritage Day, which served as an elaborate festival preview earlier this month. This year, organizers combined the Heritage Day with the Miss Guinea Jubilee Pageant.

“We thought this would give each group the opportunity to see the flip side of things,” Thomas said.

For instance, those who are involved in the history and heritage side...