When African Festival dazzled Indianapolis with cultural splendour

THE African cultural pride was, again the main feature of the 2022 edition of the Indiana African Festival as the event did not only rally diasporans to a day fiesta under one roof to celebrate their heritage, but also create an avenue to showcase the best of Africa.

To many who made appearance at the Indiana African Festival, said that the event was a rallying point for Africans, especially Nigerians who used the avenue to showcase the cultural splendour of the people, dressed in colourful attires of different ethnic groups.

The audience appreciated Abibat Omotoyosi Odumala’s decision to initiate an African Festival, first of its kind in the year 2021 here in Indianapolis. The idea was borne out of her love for the traditional heritage of the Yoruba people and the need to teach, train and sustain those values in children and generation yet to come.

Speaking with Travelpulse and MICE after the fiesta, the organiser of the event and Yeye Asa of Indiana, Chief Abibat Omotoyosi Odumala, who was overwhelmed by the turnout at the second edition of the African Festival, noted that culture is a uniting factor.

“The reason we have the event hall filled is because we have packaged the essence of our existence which is culture what binds us together; though we are far from home yet the spirit of Africanism in us is alive.

“The event was well conceptualised to make everyone count, no one is left behind because we have something for everyone.

“It is not the everyday event or festival because of the features blended with people-driven segment that not only lure people from all spheres of life but also one celebrated to honour individuals who have made marks in their chosen careers.”

Odumala also disclosed to Travelpulse and MICE that the main idea of the fiesta is to rebuild the consciousness among Nigerians and Africans in diaspora never to forget their roots, hence celebrating the event and helping them to keep in touch with the reality of their origin, a way of building a cultural regeneration.

“Our culture is our pride, our hope and our existence and the only way to remain relevant in any community is to promote the norms and values of your origin.

“What we are doing with the Indiana African Festival is to preserve and celebrate our source of existence, knowing that a people without culture is a lost generation.

“So our food, our attire, dance, songs, arts and crafts and other ingenuity showcased during the 2022 edition of the festival, were strong uniting front to promote not only our culture and people, but also a way of enlivening the Africanism spirit.”

“We are planning something more elaborate next year as we are going to consolidate on the success of the first and second edition to add more features to the Indiana African Festival as we are getting more ideas from some quarters on what they want and we are going to do it for them because when a concept is right and accepted by the people, you have to give them what they want.”

“What doing is worth doing well as since our event is people-driven, we have to align with their request while adding new blend to scale up the tempo.”

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