The Massachusetts Organization of African Descendants (MOAD) will hold its third annual Worcester African Festival on Saturday.
The festival will be a celebration of many African cultures, featuring vendors serving cuisines and merchandise from different African countries, a fashion show, and live music from disc jockeys, according to MOAD president Jermoh Kamara.
Beginning in 2023, the festival was established to help bring exposure to the African community both in Worcester and throughout Massachusetts, Kamara told MassLive.
“The African community is vibrant,” Kamara said. ”We’re vast. We’ve got a whole continent of people.”
Karama told MassLive that MOAD is operating with a smaller budget for the festival this year.
In 2023 and 2024, the festival had an operating budget of $30,000 to $35,000 that came from their sponsors. This year, the festival’s sponsors have been sending smaller donations, resulting in a budget of $16,000 for the event.
Karama said that one of the festival’s top sponsors, the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, had its funding cut, leading to it having to make smaller donations.
“I can only think that may be the reason why,” Karama said about the smaller donations this year.
Nevertheless, the festival is still on for Saturday, and Karama says that everyone is welcome to attend. The celebration not only draws people from Worcester but from all over the state as well, according to Karama.
“You don’t have to be of African background or descent to come to attend our festival,” she said. “We welcome a variety of different nationalities and people. We care about everybody.”
The Worcester African Festival will take place on Aug 2. at the Worcester Common and on Franklin Street from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
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