A new three-day festival celebrating African culture in Maine hopes to attract statewide attention.
The Bangor Area African Festival will take place from Friday, Aug. 16 to Sunday, Aug. 18. The festival, which aims to draw at least 300 people, will showcase fare from different African countries, African-owned businesses, talent through dancing and fashion, and more. Everyone, including state officials such as Gov. Janet Mills, the attorney general and secretary of state, is invited.
It’s an extension of Bangor Area Africans, a group that formed in mid-2020 via WhatsApp as a way for people from Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria and other African countries who have settled in Maine to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the group’s 120-plus members are relatively new to the state, while others have lived here for many years.
The informal group has held a few in-person gatherings, including one where members drove to the homes of high school and college graduates in 2021 to honor them, but the Bangor Area Africa Festival will be its largest event.
Those planning the event hope it raises awareness about African immigrants and directs resources to them, which in turn could strengthen Maine’s economy, said Angela Okafor, one of the organizers.
“With Maine being a tourism state, imagine when all of these [African-owned] businesses bloom, what it will bring,” she said. “We have a lot to offer. We just need people to know we are here.”
The committee organizing the festival, which includes a dozen people from different countries, hopes it becomes an annual tradition.
Another aim of the event is to “humanize” Africans to the community, so that state and local government, schools and other entities better understand the needs of immigrants and people of color. Many assume Africans are all the same, but there are differences between immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. There is room for everyone, Okafor said, but people should learn the differences.
Okafor, who is from Nigeria and has lived in Bangor since 2008, hopes networking at the event will make her fellow community members more open and trusting.
Fostering relationships with area employers can go a long way toward attracting diverse employees and retaining them, said Okafor, a realtor with Realty of Maine, attorney and former Bangor councilor. She was the first immigrant and person of color elected to the council in the overwhelmingly white city.
Okafor used to own a Bangor market offering international food, hair braiding services, custom wig making and African clothing.
Victor Iwegbulam, another organizer, hopes immigrants wishing to start a business will leave with concrete steps about how to do so and connect with new people. For those who own businesses, they might learn how to grow them, he said.
The three-day festival will be held at the Anah Shriners, 1404 Broadway in Bangor. The first day will focus on food, fun and socializing. There will be a potluck featuring African dishes, African-themed games, dancing and yoga.
A business fair featuring African-owned businesses will be held the second day. There will also be panels related to education, finances and health. The idea is to encourage civic engagement and show immigrants it doesn’t need to be scary to get involved, Okafor said.
African immigrants come from cash economies and encounter a learning curve in the United States, she said. They will have a chance to learn about long-term financial planning, investments and related topics.
“A lot of people, when they hear ‘immigrant,’ they think, ‘illegal,’” she said. “But we are humans who just want an opportunity to work on earning a better living for ourselves.”
There will be conversations about health, particularly mental wellness, which can be taboo in some African communities, Iwegbulam said. But people should be aware of the treatment options available and have a chance to ask questions, Okafor added.
The last day of the festival will give attendees a taste of culture, including dishes from African food vendors, music, a fashion show and a talent show for children. There will also be a cooking competition where participants prepare their version of jollof rice, a dish from West Africa. Organizers are looking for judges.
As for attendees outside of immigrant communities, “we want to help them understand how to understand us,” said Iwegbulam, who used to operate an in-home child care center with his wife and now works for Penobscot Job Corps.
Maine Technology Institute, Northern Light Health and law firm Rudman Winchell are among the event’s sponsors. More details about the festival will be shared on Facebook.
