Celebrate Africa!
Celebrate Africa 2020
- Date: September 25-27
- Held virtually this year.
- All Ages; FREE
Schedule of Events
Travel to the continent of Africa from the comfort of your couch, as the award-winning Celebrate Africa Festival goes virtual! Experience an Ethiopian azmari bet (performance venue), and Ghanian storytelling on the Anacostia River. Meet restauranteurs that feed not only their patrons but their communities. Vibe to bands playing traditional African instruments, and vocalists singing in languages such as Yoruba, Twi Fante, and French. This year’s Celebrate Africa Festival promises to deliver content that will delight, educate, and entertain.
Schedule of Events for Day 1
| Time | Event | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 pm | African Dance Demo | Dance | Cultural dance exercise |
| 6:30 pm | Jollof, Etc. | Food | Obi Onuoha, owner of Jollof, Etcetera, a restaurant that specializes in healthy Nigerian cuisine |
| 7 pm | Cheick Hamala Diabate | Music | Musician from Mali, West Africa, nominated for a Grammy award for Best Traditional World Music Album |
Schedule of Events for Day 2
| Time | Event | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 noon | Urban Foli | Music | Musical theater performance group expressing traditional African drumming and dance with contemporary sound. |
| 2 pm | African Fashion Influences in Fashion Design | Fashion/ Documentary | Four DMV based designers and their creations are featured in this showcase of African and African-inspired clothing and wearable art. |
| 3 pm | Anansegro of Ghana | Storytelling/ Family | Ambassador of West African culture who preserves and promotes traditions of his cultural heritage through stories, games, music, drumming, and dance |
| 4 pm | Janelia Soul | Music | Nigerian-American born singer/songwriter 7-piece band "Janeliasoul" fuses Yoruba folk songs, soul, and jazz with Afrobeat and pop. |
| 5 pm | The Hunger Tamer | Food/ Restaurant | Chef Sonia Amo-Akonnor's traditional Ghanain and West African dishes |
| 5:30 pm | Headliner from Ethiopia: Melaku Belay & Fendika |
Music/ Dance | World-renowned Ethiopian dancer and ambassador for Ethiopia’s music and dance. Belay is a virtuoso interpreter of eskista, a traditional Ethiopian dance |
Schedule of Events for Day 3
| Time | Event | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:30 pm | Amadou Kouyate | Music/ Solo | 150th generation of the Kouyate family of Manding Diali (oral historians/musicians of West Africa) performing West African classical music on the 21-string Kora, a kind of harp. |
| 3 pm | DC Highlife Stars | Music | Performances of styles of African music, including classic highlife, rumba, afrobeat, funk, and reggae. Performers from Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Haiti, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire. |