African World Festival celebrates 40 years of a cultural legacy

More than 25,000 people are expected to celebrate the spirit and cultural legacy of the African diaspora during this weekend's 40th annual African World Festival.

Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy entertainment, special headliner performances and more than 125 vendors with food, clothing, visual arts, live demonstrations and more Friday-Sunday at Hart Plaza.

"This is one of the largest celebrations of legacy, perseverance, triumph and joy that our cultures represent," said Neil Barclay, president and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which is hosting the event. "The African World Festival honors all the cultures that have evolved in the African diaspora and the descendants of Africans from our African ancestors, people who are now scattered all over the world. This remains one of the country's largest ethnic festivals."

The godfather of funk, George Clinton, and his crew, Parliament Funkadelic, will perform Friday at 8 p.m.. Along with this highly anticipated performance will be sets by saxophonist Marshall Allen with his group, Sun Ra Arkestra, and the Detroit Youth Choir, which gained national prominence performing on "America's Got Talent."

Throughout the weekend, expect more music across the festival stages all day. A full schedule of the performances can be found at thewright.org/african-world-festival.

There will be different stages for all generations of families to come and enjoy. Guests can expect a Gen Next stage for young adults and millennials all the way to a stage dedicated for senior citizens.

"The Watoto stage which, means children in Swahili, is there for our families with children," said Nija Kai, director of the African World Festival. "We have a stage there that will feature the Detroit Youth Choir, who have become renowned in America for their success on "America's Got Talent." We also have the Pyramid Art stage where we will be featuring a world of art over the festival weekend."

To top it all off, this year will feature the 40th Anniversary Gala Exhibition.

"This exhibit is going to be like a timeline through the years and we'll have a presentation that the public can peruse on their own as a self-guided walk," said Kai. "There are posters for each year of our 40 years as well as various artifacts and treasured pieces from the archives here that tell the story of the African World Festival."

For those who want to learn a new dance or skill, the festival will host free masterclasses.

"We will provide free opportunities for the public to come and enjoy Afro-Cuban dance and liturgical dance classes," said Kai. "There will be quite a variety of classes every day that's open for the public to come and try out every evening."

Kai urges people to experience the African World Festival.

"It is a really big deal to acknowledge that the Wright Museum and this community from around the world have supported this event for four decades," said Kai. "This is so thrilling that we are again on Hart Plaza, which has seen a lot of our history and has been central to so much of what this museum stands for. We hope that we have succeeded, and again provided something for everybody."

African World Festival

June 14-16, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Hart Plaza

1 Hart Plaza, Detroit

Tickets: Free for Wright museum members. General admission is $15 a day for adults and $10 a day for seniors and students. Tickets can be purchased at https://registration.thewright.org/s/african-world-festival/home.