This Saturday, 22 April, the African Festival in Commonwealth Park will celebrate the richness of African food, art, culture, and music, from north to south, east to west.
“We are bringing Africa to Canberra,” organiser Kofi Osei Bonsu, from Ghana, said. “Diversity from everywhere – little bits of here and there, all the areas.”
Africa has been called the most diverse continent – but, Mr Bonsu found when he moved to Canberra in 2013, when Australians talked about Africa, they mostly talked of safaris in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. They did not, he felt, know much about west, north, or central Africa.
It seems the beaches and nightlife of West Africa, bustling Lagos and Libreville, the mask festival of Burkina Faso or the Akwasidae and Panafest of Ghana, the vodun (voodoo) markets of Togo, the squat pyramids of Kush, the spiky Mosque of Djenne, the kingdom of Ashanti and the lost empire of Aksum, the jungles of Sierra Leone and Cameroon, or the Roman ruins of Algeria and Libya are off many travellers’ mental maps.
“I thought it was for me to really bring the community together so that we can showcase how broad and diverse and beautiful our cultures are, and for Canberrans, in particular, and Australians as a whole to know Africa’s wealth,” Mr Bonsu said.
Five years ago, in 2018, Mr Bonsu organised Canberra’s first African Festival. About 800 people attended. “It was beautiful.”
Since then, the festival has boomed. Almost 2,000 people came to the second festival in 2019. The festival was not held during the pandemic years in 2020 and 2021 – but when it returned last year, once restrictions were lifted, it was packed, Mr Bonsu said. Close to 5,000 people attended, and he expects even more to come this year.
On Saturday, Canberrans can hear “one of Africa’s finest musicians”, he said: the multi-award-winning Afro Moses, who will come from Sydney with his live band. There will also be traditional dancing and drumming, East African groups “dancing to wonderful African beats”, and local groups Kulture Break and Passion & Purpose. The music continues into the small hours of the next day: the after party, featuring DJs and Afrobeats, finishes at 3am on Sunday.
During the afternoon on Saturday, children can learn how to play drums.
Twenty-seven stalls will sell arts, crafts, clothes – and, of course, food. “Oh, the food! Oh my God, that is something that people look forward to!” Mr Bonsu said.
African food is delicious, as anyone who has visited the African village at the Multicultural Festival, eaten at Canberra’s Ethiopian and Moroccan restaurants, shopped at the Nigerian grocery store in Scullin, or cooked bobotie, poulet yassa, and efo riro can attest.
This year, there are eight food stalls, twice as many as last year, selling everything from Botswanan meat stews to Ethiopian wat and injera. Ghana and Nigeria have a friendly competition to cook the best jollof rice (a one-pot dish with meat, tomato stew, and spices). Ironically, Mr Bonsu noted, the dish comes from Senegal; its neighbours “refined” it.
“Come and celebrate with us,” he said. “Come and see the diverse cultures that we have. Come and taste the beautiful, sumptuous food from Africa. Come and see something different. Bring your dancing shoes, because it’s going to be fun, non-stop entertainment from 1pm till we close.
“It’s a free event, and alcohol-free – a family, fun-packed event, with entertainment for everyone. It’s going to be fun; it’s going to be joyful; it’s going to be great, so everyone should come and experience the real Africa.”
African Festival in the Park, Stage 88, Commonwealth Park, Saturday 22 April 10am to 8pm. Admission free. To find out more, visit nca.gov.au/events/africa-festival-park-2023-canberra
Africa Party in the Park, Saturday 22 April 10pm to Sunday 23 April 3am. Tickets $11.90 to $22.49. Visit facebook.com/Africapartyinthepark for more information.
