The Wakanda Celebration is an educational event that embraces and acknowledges African Art, History, Music, Community, Culture, Tradition, Values, and African Pride. Join us for a day filled with culture, music, and excitement as we celebrate the rich heritage of Africa at the annual community event, WAKANDA CELEBRATION!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 2025
12pm – 8pm
Traphagen School
72 Lexington Avenue
Mt. Vernon NY 10552
About the Event
Immerse yourself in the rhythms of Africa with live music performances, marvel at the stunning masquerade display, and let your little ones explore the wonders of the children’s village. Discover the beauty of African fashion, lifestyle, and textiles at our exclusive exhibition, and support local artisans and vendors showcasing their crafts.
Admission is free! Donations of any amount are welcome so that we can continue offering you great programs and performances.
Don’t miss out on this unforgettable journey to Wakanda. Join us for a day of celebration, connection, and community!
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Children’s Village:
Engage your little ones in a world of fun and discovery with specially curated activities and entertainment tailored just for them.
2. Live Entertainment:
Immerse yourself in the vibrant rhythms of Africa with live music, mesmerizing masquerade displays, energetic dance performances, and an electrifying DJ set guaranteed to keep youmoving.
3. African Fashion, Lifestyle, and Textiles Exhibition:
Explore the rich African culture through a captivating live fashion show and exhibition showcasing authentic attire and exquisite fabrics, offering a glimpse into the diverse and vibrant world of African fashion and lifestyle.
4. Delicious Food:
Indulge your taste buds in a tantalizing array of flavors with a mouthwatering selection of traditional African cuisine, sure to satisfy even the most discerning palate.
5. Vendors:
Discover unique treasures and one-of-a-kind finds as you browse through a diverse range of vendors offering everything from handcrafted goods to artisanal products, providing the perfect opportunity to take home a piece of Wakanda
The Wakanda Celebration is a festival of community, culture, and African Pride.
Join us on August 31 from 11am-9pm: (Event activities subject to change)
The “African Fashion, Lifestyle, and Textiles” exhibition celebrates the rich diversity and creativity of African fashion and textile traditions. Featuring a captivating array of garments, accessories, and fabrics, the exhibition showcases diverse African fashion traditional attires and designs. Visitors are immersed in the vibrant colors, intricate patterns, and cultural significance woven into each piece, exploring the intersection of fashion, identity, and heritage across the African continent.
– Kente cloth is a brightly colored, handwoven fabric.
– Intricate geometric patterns and designs characterize it.
– Traditionally worn by royalty or for special occasions like weddings and ceremonies.
– Adire is a resist-dyed indigo fabric produced by the Yoruba people in Nigeria.
– It involves various dyeing techniques such as tie-dye, stitch resist, and hand-painted methods.
– Adire is often used to make wrappers, dresses, and shirts.
Aso-Oke is a traditional handwoven fabric from Nigeria, particularly among the Yoruba people.
1. Handwoven Elegance: Aso-Oke fabric is meticulously handwoven on narrow looms by highly skilled artisans. This intricate weaving process results in a fabric of exceptional quality and beauty.
2. Rich Cultural Heritage: Aso-Oke holds deep cultural significance in Nigerian society and is often worn on special occasions such as weddings, festivals, and ceremonies. It is considered a symbol of prestige, tradition, and heritage.
3. Variety of Patterns and Designs: Aso-Oke fabric has many patterns, designs, and colors. Traditional motifs such as geometric shapes, stripes, and intricate patterns are commonly featured, each with its symbolic meaning.
4. Luxurious Texture: Aso-Oke fabric is luxurious, soft, and durable. It has a substantial weight, making it ideal for clothing and accessories like bags, shoes, and headwraps.
5. Versatile Usage: While traditionally worn as ceremonial attire, Aso-Oke has evolved to be incorporated into modern fashion. It is used to create a variety of garments, including dresses, skirts, blouses, and traditional Nigerian attire such as agbada, buba, and iro.
6. Symbol of Celebration: Aso-Oke fabric is often associated with joyous celebrations and milestones in Nigerian culture. It is commonly gifted during weddings and other special occasions as a symbol of honor, respect, and good wishes.
Overall, Aso-Oke fabric embodies Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage, craftsmanship, and artistic expression, making it a cherished and iconic textile in traditional and contemporary contexts.
– Mudcloth, or Bogolanfini, is a traditional Malian cotton fabric made by the Bambara people.
– It is handwoven and dyed using fermented mud, giving it a distinctive earthy color and texture.
– Mudcloth often features symbolic designs and patterns representing Malian culture and history.
– It is handwoven from cotton and dyed with fermented mud, resulting in unique brown and white patterns.
– Bògòlanfini is often used for clothing, blankets, and accessories; the patterns usually have symbolic meanings.
– The Kanga is a rectangle of pure cotton cloth with a border all around it, printed in bold designs and bright colors. Kangas are usually bought and worn as a pair – called a “doti”.
– Kangas are extremely popular throughout East Africa and are the perfect gift. Husbands give kangas to wives, children to their mothers, a woman may split a pair to
give half to her best friend. Men can sleep in kangas, women wear them everywhere; babies are virtually born into them, and are usually carried in a soft sling of kanga cloth.
– Also can be used as a skirt, dress, shawl, headdress, Baby Carrier, Nursing Tent, Wall Hanging, Curtains, Table Cloth, Back Pack, Bedding … the sky’s the limit!
– Kitenge is a heavier or more densely woven cotton cloth, without the rectangular pattern units of kanga cloth.
– Kitenge is a colorful wax-printed fabric commonly worn in East Africa.
– It is characterized by vibrant patterns and motifs, often featuring animals, geometric shapes, or cultural symbols.
– Kitenge is versatile and used to make dresses, skirts, and head wraps.
– Maasai Shuka fabric is a traditional East African textile known for its vibrant colors and bold patterns.
– Woven from acrylic material, it is durable and versatile, used for clothing, blankets, and decorative purposes.
– The distinct plaid design of Maasai Shuka fabric carries cultural significance within Maasai communities and is often worn during ceremonies and festivals.
– The Kikoi is a more variable rectangle of cotton cloth, usually with fringed ends and a simple woven (not printed) pattern without the full border patterning of the kanga.
Kikois are the traditional wrap-around worn by men along the East African coast.
– Shweshwe is a cotton fabric with intricate geometric patterns printed on it.
– It has a distinctive stiff texture and is often dyed in shades of blue, brown, or red.
– Originally brought to South Africa by German settlers, shweshwe is now widely used in traditional South African attire like dresses, shoes, tablecloth, skirts, and headscarves.
– Handwoven by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo formerly Zaire. The Kuba artisan hand-weave strips of raffia from palm leaves to drape around themselves at celebrations. The raffia is dyed by women with natural plant substances and woven by men. Each square takes a couple of days to complete and the designs have various meanings.
The Kuba cloth has become a modern-day décor. They make spectacular wall hangings, bedspreads, throws among other things
Born in Bukoba, Tanzania, Rose Luangisa came to the U.S. in 1987 and earned both a B.S. in Computer Information Systems and an MBA from IONA College. She got her start at African Family Day at Memorial Park in Mount Vernon (her U.S. hometown) and opened Luangisa African Gallery in 1996.
Over the past 25 years, she’s showcased artifacts and other crafts at those fairs, festivals, trade shows and museum events which are symbolic of Africa’s rich cultural heritage, including: Afropunk, International African Arts Festival and Dance Africa! in Brooklyn; Essence Music Festival in New Orleans; Capital Jazz Fest in Maryland, African Festival of the Arts and Arts and Crafts at the DuSable Museum, both in Chicago, African World Festival in Detroit, Newport Jazz Fest in Rhode Island, the Harlem Fine Arts Festival, the Zora Festival in Florida and many other venues.
Rose’s mission has always been to make both artisans and customers happy, to preserve African culture and traditions, and to empower and connect its people across the world.
