African Diaspora Festival is This Weekend

The City of Newark, the Municipal Council, the City of Newark’s African Commission, the Africana Institute, and Africa Newark International will host the Fifth Annual African Diaspora Festival, on Saturday  from noon to 9 p.m., at Jesse Allen Park, at 66 Muhammad Ali Avenue, and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., at Lincoln Park, which is located between Broad and Clinton Avenue. The rain date is Sunday, September 15.

The annual festival promotes African nations by reinforcing unity and cultural integration. This event will help affirm and define the legacy of the African Diaspora, aiming at encouraging self-reliance and increasing the quality of relationships and dialogue between the communities. The African Diaspora Festival also serves as an educational platform for many who are not informed about Africa, giving them an opportunity to learn the true image of the African Continent.

This year’s event is being split between Jesse Allen Park and Lincoln Park, with the Diaspora Soccer Tournament set for Saturday, Sept. 7, at Jesse Allen Park. Teams from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Sierra Leone, Cote-d’Ivoire, Liberia, Cameroon, and other African nations will compete in the tournament. Fire Director Fateen A. Ziyad will kick off the soccer tournament.

The Sunday festival in Lincoln Park will involve people of African descent from Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean Islands, and beyond. It will bring together people of African descent and members of other communities to celebrate a common ancestry, history, and spiritual heritage, with a full-day cultural extravaganza on Sunday, September 8. The event will honor the life and legacy of Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela, for his commitment to freedom and human dignity.          

South African Consul-General George Monyemangene will received a Proclamation from the City, in honor of former South African President and Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela. Diplomatic representatives of other African nations have been invited to participate in the festival.

Scheduled performers include Jamaican Reggae star Big Steppa, N’goma Za Kongo “The Drums of Congo,” from Congo-Brazzaville, and Sabre Soumano, the Mandingo historian-griot, of Guinea.

For more information about the African Diaspora Festival, contact the Newark African Commission at (973) 573-8081 or (973) 849-5209, or visit their website at www.africancommission.org