In the backdrop of the 150th Anniversary Celebration of the Opening of the Port Yokohama, the Annual African Festa event will be held once again in this beautiful city. With the cooperation between MoFA, the Office of the Mayor of Yokohama and the ADC, we present “African Festa 2009”. It will be held at the Red Brick Warehouse (Akarenga) on May 16-17, 2009.

The African Festa is usually held at Hibiya Park in Tokyo but last year, as a prelude to the TICAD IV, it was held in Yokohama for the first time.

The event will showcase the African culture from performances of African Music and Dance, African Food and Beverages, and African Traditions and Craftsmanship from various exhibitions of African Embassies in Japan as well as from Associations and NGOs dealing with African countries.

Besides its festive aspect, from the view point of the African Diplomatic Corps, the African Festa is to be considered as a “give and take” event and an opportunity for exploring new avenues for partnership, tourism and business ventures with Japan, while cultivating a more positive image of the African continent. Again, this image should move from the stereotypes of wars, conflicts, diseases, hunger and poverty always portrayed by the media, to an image showing another Africa: a Continent of hope and opportunities richly endowed with vast natural resources, vibrant people and huge markets.

For more information please see these following links.

African Festa 2009 (Japanese)
Grand Exposition for Yokohama’s 150th Year (English, Japanese)