Celebrating the Culture at the Odunde Festival

Sunday, June 9, 2024, capped off a full week of cultural celebration in Philadelphia, at the 49th Annual Odunde Festival.

According to its website, the Odunde Festival is the largest African-American street festival in North America. Thousands flocked to South Street on Sunday to enjoy more than 15 blocks of vendors, displays, international cuisine, drumming, and other forms of entertainment. Sunday's activities were the culmination of Festival Week (June 2-8).

The week, referred to as Odunde 365, offered a series of live events including:
• Monday, June 3 – Convo with the CEO: Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs
• Tuesday, June 4 – Afrobeats Outdoor Happy Hour & Dance Party
• Wednesday, June 5 – Festival Preview Celebration, African Business Roundtable and VIP & Diplomatic Reception
• Thursday, June 6 – Lois' Lunches (breakfast food giveaways in honor of the late Founder Lois Fernandez)
• Friday, June 7 – Caribbean Business Roundtable
• Saturday, June 8 – Buying Real Estate in Ghana Workshop
• Sunday, June 9 – Annual Odunde Festival

Each year the Odunde Festival draws hundreds of thousands of people from throughout the Philadelphia area, the Mid-Atlantic region, and around the world. With an estimated $30 million economic impact on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a $28 million economic impact to the City of Philadelphia, the Odunde Festival has been designated an official city event, according to a press release.

Oshunbumi Fernandez-West, Odunde, Inc. chief executive officer shared, “We are so thrilled to be able to invite Odunde attendees back on South Street, to be immersed in the African, the Caribbean and African-American culture through our diverse food offerings, entertainment, and history! I can’t wait to see everyone procession at noon where we honor our ancestors, including my mom and the late Odunde Founder Lois Fernandez, and we bring our offerings to the Goddess Oshun and ask her for a blessed Odunde and a Happy New Year.”

The headliners this year were Dru Hill but there was much more.
Please enjoy these photos courtesy of Arts & Entertainment Editor, Raymond Tyler

About Odunde
The Odunde Festival takes place annually on the second Sunday in June along South Street from 17th to 24th Streets and in the surrounding area. The free, outdoor festival, whose central ceremonies are rooted in the traditions of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, features a wide variety of vendors, craftspeople, artists, and performers.

Created in 1975 with a $100 grant by Lois Fernandez, the Odunde Festival has grown to become the largest African-American street festival in America, according to the organization's website. Oshunbumi “Bumi” Fernandez-West continues her mother’s legacy through Odunde 365, a non-profit that produces the festival as well as year-round cultural programs to Philadelphia schools, businesses, and organizations. Further information on Odunde 365's programs, the "I AM BUMI" children’s book and calendar of events may be obtained by contacting us at www.odundefestival.org.

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