By: Viannca Vélez

It was a feeling, something that can’t be held in your hands, something that words can’t express, something that must be experienced. 

The 2022 AFRIBEMBÉ FESTIVAL was an embodiment of unity, family, and connecting to spirit. The August 13th event was the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s 4th annual celebration of Pan-African artistry, intellectuality, and musicality. Held in partnership with the Friends of Art Park Alliance in Harlem Art Park and throughout E 120th Street in East Harlem, the theme of this year’s festival was Sankofa, a word from the Akan people of Ghana that translates to, “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”

“We begin everything we do with first acknowledging our ancestors.” - Melody Capote

After a short DJ set by Madame Vacile set the musical tone for the festival’s commencement, Melody Capote, Executive Director of CCCADI, took to the stage to officially open AFRIBEMBÉ with a libation - a moment to honor our ancestors and ask for their blessing. 

Queue the distant sound of powerful drum beats from the opposite end of the festival street, steadily intensifying as it gets closer. The AFRIBEMBÉ journey of experiencing the richness and shared connection of various African Diaspora cultures from around the world has officially begun. Early festival-goers are greeted with a drum procession by Batalá New York, a Black-led, all-women Brazilian samba reggae percussion ensemble. 

From Brazil to the Caribbean, the festival’s next stop is the Dominican Republic. Legacy Women take the stage, channeling divine feminine power, to bring the sounds of Afro Dominican palos. The ancestral Afro Caribbean call and response music continued as BombaYo then takes the stage to create a serendipitous moment of intergenerational exchange through the sounds of Afro Puerto Rican bomba. 

The crowd has transformed into one large group. Clapping in support, elders and children alike take turns dancing. Each uses their movement to create music, to speak to the drums, to connect with something deeper that everyone seems to be feeling together.

This energy continued when Rasin Okan representing traditional Haitian rara took the stage. After a high-energy performance, in a spontaneous and organic moment, they lead the entire festival on a parade. It is suddenly Kanaval, it’s a powerful collective claiming of space, a unified movement of many as one. 

From Haiti to the Motherland, Sidiki Conde and Tokounou Dance Company ground festival-goers through traditional West African sounds from Guinea, emphasizing that the essence of African ancestral music is a communal connection.  

The festival’s musical journey through parts of the African Diaspora culminated with the return to what most members of the audience know as home: New York City. The Bembé Stage performances wrapped up with Eddie Montalvo y Su Orquesta performing NuyoRican salsa, a true product of the African Diaspora. Music of sounds birthed from African and Afro-Indigenous traditions traveled miles and centuries through the Caribbean and Latin America to meet in NYC where they merged to create rhythms that unite us in joy, celebration, and dance.

While the performances transported over 500 festival-goers through time and space, AFRIBEMBÉ offered an array of other cultural experiences as well. In between each performance, DJ Mickey Pérez and Madame Vacile kept the rhythms alive with their live sets, and award-winning poet La Bruja (Caridad De La Luz) sparked emotions with her spoken word. 

Inside Harlem Art Park, the Family Village provided families with an opportunity to create their own music through a free percussion workshop with OMG Cornelio, while others basked in the nostalgia of their double-dutch-jumping days through a workshop with Double Dutch Dreamz. Families also engaged in creative cultural learning through the Andrinka symbol arts and crafts station. 

In the spirit of honoring the past, AFRIBEMBÉ honored one of its own East Harlem figures through its Sankofa Tribute dedicated to the late Hiram Maristany, community documentarian, and photographic storyteller. A mini exhibition of images by Hiram was on display, as well as youth images inspired by him. Additionally, the festival offered a moment of recognition on the Bembé Stage, where he was represented by his children Pablo and Alita Maristany. 

As the festival came to a close, the fullness of the community was omnipresent. Full bellies thanks to the SoulFull Food Plaza vendors, Dap Ventures Inc, El Pilon Catering, Island Love Cakes, Selena’s Gourmet LLC, Passion Fusion BK, Uncle Yankey’s Pepper Sauce, and full shopping bags from the talented Ujamma Market vendors, Ojala Threads, Brooklyn Brujeria, Rebelorisha, Brooklyn Headline Corporation, Petit Nursing Accessories, PopOrigins, Everything Soulful, Pinchazo, La Linguere Fashions Harlem NY, Taller Jibaro, Just Keebs, Shailah Edmonds, Molasses Sunshine Studio Designs, Crystal + Irie.

But, ever more present was the fullness of the crowd’s smiles, laughs and goodbye hugs, symbolic of filled hearts and reconnected spirits. That was the feeling of the 2022 AFRIBEMBÉ FESTIVAL: Sankofa! 

View the recap video here.

2022 AfribembÉ festival: sankofa! Photo Gallery

Photos by Aryana Alexa