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, Aug. 16 to Sunday, Aug.
18. The festival, which aims to draw at least 300 people, will showcase fare from different African countries, African-owned businesses, talent through dancing and fashion, and more. Everyone, including state officials such as Gov.
Janet Mills, the attorney general and secretary of state, is invited. It’s an extension of Bangor Area Africans, a group that formed in mid-2020 via WhatsApp as a way for people from Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria and other African countries who have settled in Maine to connect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the group’s 120-plus members are relatively new to the state, while others have lived here for many years.
The informal group has held a few in-person gatherings, including one where members drove to the homes of high school and college graduates in 2021 to honor them, but the Bangor Area Africa Festival will be its largest event. Those planning the event hope it raises awareness about African immigrants and directs resources to them, which in turn could strengthen Maine’s economy, said Angela Okafor, one of the organizers. “With Maine being a tourism state, imagine when all of these [African-owned] businesses bloom, what it will bring,” she said.
“We have a lot to offer. We just need people to know we are here.” The committee organizing the festiv.