The 8th Annual African Festival is coming to Lowell this Saturday, June 21, at the Sampas Pavilion on Pawtucket Blvd., across from Heritage Farm Ice Cream. As it has in the past, the 2008 festival promises a full day of food, cultural activities, and most important (to me, at least), great African music.
Below is the current schedule for music and other events.
11:00 a.m. - DJ Marcel, spinning intoxicating African sounds
12:00 p.m. - Opening prayer by Pastor Jeremiah Menyongai
12:30 p.m. - The African Festival Pledge by the Camola Kids
12:45 p.m. - American National Anthem, led by Mr. Emmanuel Asamoah, violinist from Ghana
1:00 p.m. - Address by the Mayor of Lowell, Honorable Edward 'Bud' Caulfield
1:15 p.m. - Lighting of the Torch let by the Mayor and the African Youths
1:30 p.m. - Key Note Speaker, Sheria Thompson / Sheria is the Assistant Director of Admissions at the College of Engineering, UMass Lowell, and is also in charge of the outreach minority recruitment at the university.
2-3:15 p.m. - Zili Misik (Massachusetts)
With captivating sounds that evoke the African continent, Zili retraces routes of forced exile and cultural resistance through diasporic rhythm and song. Powerful Haitian, Brazilian and West African rhythms infuse Zili’s original creations and traditional folk songs, while Zili inspires its audiences to dance and even teaches them how. All female, Zili takes its name from Haitian spiritual entity, Zili, who is envisaged as Mother, Lover, and Warrior.
4-5 p.m. - Lamine Toure and Group Saloum (Senegal)
Amadou Lamine Touré comes from a long line of griots, a caste of musicians and oral historians among the Wolof people of Senegal. Born into a family of griot percussionists, masters of the sabar drum, Lamine has been drumming since he was 4 years old. Lamine Toure and Group Saloum kick out a hard-hitting dance mix that spans the percussive fury of Senegalese mbalax and the joyful uplift of Congolese Soukous. Group Saloum is a tight group made up of some of the best musicians in Boston.
Also scheduled to appear are the Osibi Dancers, a dance troupe from Ghana; the Kumbaa Sisters, an exotic dance group from Sierra Leone; the Female Mask Dancers, a traditional dance group from Sierra Leone; and J.P. Muiruri Ndungu, playing traditional music and dance from Kenya.
It should be fun for the whole family, so if you're not headed north to the mountains or south to the Cape, celebrate the diversity of Africa at this important festival.
