Pan African Festival of Oregon
Oregon’s annual Pan African Festival celebrates the presence, resilience, strength, and influence of Pan Africans (Africans, Caribbean and African Americans) in Oregon. We believe the festival is a cultural vehicle to galvanize, mobilize and empower Diaspora Africans in Oregon. It is a springboard to community capacity building, to increase understanding within and between communities and to stimulate dialogue and increase awareness and sensitivity. This vision is captured in our theme of: Experience The Culture.
Beyond the day of the festival itself, we also engage in a variety of community development dialogues and events year-round with local community-based organizations to help inspire Diaspora African finding lasting solutions for sustainable future.
Read: 2019 PAF Impact summary
Our core purposes:
- Present rich, diverse and distinctive Pan African (Africans, Caribbean’s and African Americans) cultural performances and histories, and affirm Pan African people as historic agents
- Increase recognition of the presence of African, Caribbean and African American communities in Oregon and raise awareness of their contributions to the state
- Create networks within and between and Pan African communities and stimulate awareness and dialogue between communities
- Combine the diversity in the Black African, Caribbean and African American community within a Pan African Framework to achieve Pan African unity
- Educate the community about the skills that are needed to participate in finding sustainable solutions to the local issues that concern them to achieve sustainable future for all blacks in Oregon
- Enhance and achieve awareness and sensitivity to Pan African (African, Caribbean and African American) cultures and bring people together to celebrate and reconnect with their roots
- Enable a platform to showcase Pan African entrepreneurship
WHEN: August 08, 2020, 12pm-8: 30pm
WHERE: Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, OR 97205
WHAT: The festival will include live entertainment, cultural foods, arts and crafts, and much more. Pan African Festival (PAF) emphasizes promoting health equity, economic development, providing employment and educational opportunities and building community awareness. These are essential components to empower Pan Africans (Africans, Afro Latinix, Caribbeans and African Americans) and their allies to pursue policy changes which shift social and other determinants of health. PAF is dedicated to providing the necessary space to talk about, and fight for, social justice.