INDIANAPOLIS — On Saturday, the African Unity Festival returned to the Global Village Welcome Center for the second time.
The event, hosted by the African Council of Indiana and the International Marketplace Coalition, is a cultural festival that aims to show the vibrant and diverse African community in Indiana through food, music, dance, art and more.
The African Council of Indiana is a nonprofit organization that aims to "“raise awareness around and advocate for issues affecting African communities in Indiana.”
"Today we are celebrating the multiculturalism of the African continent." Linky Ugeh, Community Chair for the African Council of Indiana said. "We have brought together people from various African cultures to celebrate our culture, our traditions, our food, music to really come together with the community and show them who we are."
The African Council of Indiana says they have committed to 10 years of hosting the event at no cost to the community.
The event was filled with a variety of traditional African clothing, jewelry and art.
Tables were filled with African cuisine and traditional food dishes.
A parade featuring 54 flags representing 54 African countries also took place before the festival.
"We really want to celebrate who we are and the richness and the boldness of our culture," Ugeh said.
Ugeh says over 100 people came out for both days of the event.
"It's not just people from the African culture here, there's people from all different cultures that are reassuring that here on the west side of Indianapolis we are united as one and we are learning how to break that color barrier, that cultural barrier and celebrate each other together," said an event goer.
To learn more about the African Council of Indiana, visit their website.
