Program Description

The 2010 St. Louis African Arts Festival is a three-day event for the entire family that boasts the following key components:

• The African Marketplace is not merely a commercial venue, but serves as another representation of African culture and social organization. Select vendors display unique African and Afrocentric artifacts, textile, jewelry, and clothing and are asked to engage festival attendees with the use and origin of their merchandise. In order to promote dialogue/ an educational atmosphere, the number of vendors is kept to a minimum.
• Cultural demonstrations highlight a number of cultural traditions and folk art, such as: culinary demonstrations, head and body wrapping fashion techniques, basket weaving, specialized African hair braiding, etc.
• The Children’s Village is an essential component of the African Arts Festival as it is designed to expose children to various art forms and to engage them in hands-on art activities. This component includes, but is not limited to: mask-making, music, puppetry, storytelling, percussion workshops.
• Main stage participants are typically local performing artists. Presenting local artists is an equally important component of the festival as it serves to proudly showcase the talent within our community and encourage our patrons to establish long-term relationships with these groups.