African Festival of the Arts 2016



This weekend, I enjoyed my favorite summer festival of the year, the 27th Annual African Festival of the Arts. Since 2014, I make it my personal duty to attend this beautiful event. You can check out my coverage from last year here. The AFA is a four day festival promoting African diasporic arts from jewelry to paintings on the southside's Washington Park. There are always performers, vendors, and exhibitors from around the world, representing the melting pot of global Africanism.




This year I attended the event Friday night and Sunday night. Restaurants and food vendors like OooH Wee Sweet TeaHarold's Chicken, Vee Vee's African Restaurant, and more were in attendance in the "Bank of the Nile" food court. Performances at the World Stage were curated by the Bantu Entertainment showcasing local Chicago artists as well as national and international ones. There were art vendors, clothing vendors, shea butter and black soap galore in the "Sognhay" and "Timbuktu" sections.Stores like Kayra Imports, Looks and Styles, and amazing artists like Lydell Martin and Woodrow Nash were in attendance. Unique jewelry vendors such as Dragon Faiya Creations and K-Fleye Designs had their amazing pieces on display for purchase as well. I really wish the AFA would be around year long because of all the cultural education, unity, and positivity it brings. As always, I'll be counting down until next year to attend. Take a look at some of the photos below.




       
Cabbage, plantains, couscous, and rice from Yassa Senegalese Restaurant 


Accessories from designer Edentity by Nionekaly Ba






Vegan soul food from Yekiellah's Vegan. It was DAMN GOOD!


Ackee and saltfish dinner from Jamaican Snack Hut


My girl Dija from Dija Paint & Sip Session doing henna on a customer


Fabulous young lady rocking kente cloth 


One of the ladies from Yassa, she was looking fabulous!


Love her ensemble


One of the owners of NuDred hair sculpting tools


Owner of Pure Shea Store from Baltimore

Photo Courtesy: KLT Photos
Check out more photography from the fest on the KLT Photos blog!



CONVERSATION

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