An upcoming event intends to bring Africa so close to home that you can actually taste it. Taste of Africa is back in time to celebrate Black History Month in the city, but also to celebrate ways in which the whole community can come together in the spirit of peace, harmony, and intercultural understanding.
The Africans and African Descendants Friendship Club of St. Albert promises it will be a variety show of singing, dancing, drumming, armchair travel, and poetry with a fashion parade, and food. That's a lot to pack into one event, and for such a low ticket price, especially when you consider the volume and variety of delicious food on the plate.
“We are planning on having 15 different food items at the event,” said Helen Agbonison, founder and president of the Friendship Club, who will also introduce the food segment of the event.
She described how Taste of Africa will probably be organized when it comes around on Saturday, Feb. 26, although pandemic preparations are still expected to change.
“We are trying to make sure that we keep people safe. We're going to have the food displayed, but we’ll have it packed so all that you do is you have your box of food with a drink all packed and ready to go. Even if the restrictions have been lifted, we want to make sure that everyone attends the events safely and [goes] home safely.”
Agbonison herself won’t be part of the entertainment, but that won’t stop her from getting into the spirit of things. The Nigerian-born St. Albertan of the Igbo tribe from the southeast of the coastal country in West Africa is planning to wear the traditional clothing of another tribe for the event. She wore Igbo clothing for the first Taste and she wants give other tribes the spotlight.
One of her children will perform spoken word poetry during the evening.
With the many colourful cultural facets of the evening, Agbonison is most looking forward to the armchair travel aspect.
"The reason why I look forward to the armchair travel first is that in the last few years, lots of people have not traveled. The armchair travel is more or less like you're traveling to another country ... in two countries this time," she continued.
"I don't want to name the countries because I want it to be a surprise. The two countries, one in Africa and one in the Caribbean — people are going to be traveling down there through the eyes of members of our community."
Keeping that secret, she did reveal that attendees — whether in person or virtually — can look forward to a musician playing a unique African instrument called a mbira and there will be a Rwandan dance as well.
Taste of Africa is set to take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Arden Theatre. Tickets are $5 for the live stream only or $10 for the in-person event (before taxes and fees). Visit stalbert.ca/events/calendar/arts-culture/taste-of-africa-celebrating-black-history-month to buy your tickets or call 780-459-1542 for more information.
