The Flowers of the African Diaspora Festival celebrates its 27th edition with a month of activities paying tribute to Afro-Costa Rican culture. Organized by the Foundation for Art and Culture for Development, the event began on August 11 and will run through September 9. It features five themes: genealogy, gastronomy, literature, Afro-Cuban cultural exchange, and the African Diaspora Parade.
The program seeks to delve deeper into the roots, memory, and present of the Afro-descendant community and includes exhibitions, workshops, conferences, fairs, and artistic performances. “The African Diaspora Festival is an opportunity to share and bring the public closer to Afro-Costa Rican culture, especially Afro-Caribbean culture,” commented Carol Britton, executive director of the foundation.
Afro-Costa Rican Genealogies
The exhibition “Living Roots: Afro-Costa Rican Memory and Family” is on display at the Miguel Obregón National Library until August 29. It reconstructs the history of 21 families.
On August 20, there will be a workshop on how to construct family history, and on August 26, a lecture on Afro-Costa Rican genealogy will be led by Mauricio Meléndez, followed by a discussion with the exhibit’s key figures.
Food and Literature
From August 22 to 31, eight restaurants in Barrio Escalante will offer dishes inspired by Eulalia Bernard, Queen Nzinga, Quince Duncan, and Shirley Campbell, with the participation of national and international chefs. On August 29, the San José Cultural Center will pay tribute to Eulalia Bernard with a performance of her album “Negritud.”
Afro-Cuban Cultural Exchange
Between September 1 and 5, Cuban musicians and artists will lead workshops and master classes at the National Music Center. On September 9, the Capellades Gymnasium will host a tribute to choreographer Geovanni Loaiza, for over 25 years of promoting Afro-Costa Rican folklore and culture.
The Grand African Diaspora Parade
The festival will close on Saturday, September 6, with the San José Diaspora Parade. Starting at 10:00 a.m., artistic groups, marching bands, Afro costumes, and poetry will parade along Paseo de los Damas, from Morazán Park to the National Park. The marshal will be Rogelio “Tipi” Rogers Gordon, vocalist of Grupo Marfil.
Following the parade, the National Park will host a food fair with more than 20 stalls, a multicultural fair with more than 150 entrepreneurs, and concerts by the Big Band Juvenil, Johnnyman, Kenneth Mayorga, Dinamo Limón, and Grupo Marfil.
A festival with legal and cultural support
The event is part of Article 1 of the Constitution, which recognizes Costa Rica as a multiethnic and pluricultural republic, and Law No. 9526 (Historical Month of People of African Descent) and Law No. 10050 (Day of the Black Person and Afro-Costa Rican Culture). For more details, the public can visit the Facebook page of the African Diaspora Flowers Festival or the Instagram page @Festival_diasporaafricana.
