A 3-day festival celebrating African culture will take place in Bangor this summer

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 August 16th to Sunday August 18th. The festival, which aims to attract at least 300 people, will showcase dishes from different African countries, African businesses and talents through dance. and fashion, and more. Everyone, including state officials such as Governor Janet Mills, the Attorney General and Secretary of State, is invited.

This is an extension of Bangor Area Africans, a group that formed in mid-2020 via WhatsApp to enable people from Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria and other African countries settled in Maine to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the group’s more than 120 members are relatively new to the state, while others have lived there for many years.

The informal group has held a few in-person gatherings, including one in which members drove to the homes of 2021 high school and college graduates to pay their respects, but the Bangor Area Africa Festival will be its largest event.

Those planning the event hope it will raise awareness and devote resources to the plight of African immigrants, which could strengthen Maine’s economy, said Angela Okafor, one of the organizers.

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