And while food and music will be festival highlights, culture and education are also on the agenda for the eight-day event beginning July 23, said founder Queen Amina Eghujovbo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to showcase our culture,\u201d Eghujovbo said. \u201cThe festival is aimed towards speaking to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to tell the community that the Africans are here and we are ready to work and we need support.\u201d<\/p>\n
A portion of the festival\u2019s proceeds will be earmarked toward establishing a meeting place where the growing African community in Windsor can gather.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times our older women, once they start getting old, activities shut down for them,\u201d Eghujovbo said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have a community, don\u2019t have a place to go, they don\u2019t have anything to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey deteriorate very quickly because they are inactive in the community (and) we want to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eghujovbo said village hubs are very common in Africa. They are places to gather, tell stories, dance and socialize.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat keeps the elder people together. We don\u2019t have that in North America,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we want to be able to create that kind of environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The centre will also welcome newly arrived youth and encourage them to learn about African culture and also about life in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe young (people), they\u2019re so terrified of the things they hear about North America,\u201d Eghujovbo said.<\/p>\n
She said most young newcomers want to be doctors or engineers so they can earn a lot of money and live well. And she asks them why they wouldn\u2019t want to be a police officer or sign up for military service.<\/p>\n
The response is usually that \u201cthe police people are not good. They are very dangerous people,\u201d she said, adding she disputes these ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to have them together \u2014 police will talk to them, have activities with them,\u201d Eghujovbo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t have an environment where these children can come together and listen to all the African mothers and fathers, talking to them about this beautiful community, they will never learn anything except the things they learn on the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we want to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2021 Statistics Canada census pegs the African immigrant population in Windsor at 5,055, but Eghujovbo believes it\u2019s much higher and continues to grow.<\/p>\n
Kicking off the Windsor International Diaspora African Festival (WIDA Fest) is a 10-kilometre riverfront walk\/run on the evening of July 23, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Riverfront Plaza in Dieppe Gardens.<\/p>\n
Among other highlights of WIDA Fest are the official opening ceremonies on July 28 at 4 p.m. at the downtown riverfront Festival Plaza, followed by a drum festival and Jab Jab J\u2019Ouvert concert at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
A \u201ccarnival street parade\u201d will take place July 29, starting at 1 p.m., beginning at Devonshire Road, heading along Riverside Drive to the Festival Plaza. An 8 p.m. WIDA Fest music concert will be held there as well.<\/p>\n
The week includes a golf tournament at Roseland Golf Course, an Underground Railroad tour of a curated collection of historical sites and museums, a visit to the Amherstburg Freedom Museum and a business seminar.<\/p>\n
A screening of the film When Love Hurts, will be held July 27 at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre.<\/p>\n
The festival wraps up July 30 with the Vigor Unsung Heroes awards gala at the Capitol Theatre, highlighting work to support humanity and goodwill.<\/p>\n
Tickets and further information on all the festival events can be found online at https:\/\/zalentcreatives.com\/widafest\/. Creating a hub for both elderly African immigrants to gather and socialize, as well as for youngsters to learn about culture and traditions, is the dream of organizers of the inaugural Windsor International Diaspora African Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":31466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,12],"tags":[7,30,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-31469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-entertainment","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"\n
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