Kwanzaa celebration
12/28/2023, 6 p.m.
The seven-day Kwanzaa holiday is in full swing, with the largest community event in Virginia set to take place from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Downtown.
The Capital City Kwanzaa Festival is a yearly production of the Richmond-based Elegba Folklore Society, an African dance and educational organization that describes itself as the city’s cultural ambassador.
The keynote speaker this year will be veteran educator Kaba H. Kamene, a best-selling author and founding principal and CEO of the African-centered science academy Per Ankh in the Bronx and Boston, Janine Y. Bell, founding president and artistic director of Elegba, has announced.
“Legacy Is Balance” is the theme of the event that also will feature music, dance, workshops, activities for children and a marketplace, Ms. Bell stated.
Launched 57 years ago, Kwanzaa is a holiday that encourages people to focus on personal, family and community values. It’s name comes from a Swahili phrase that translates loosely to “first fruit of the harvest.”
The festival begins the day after Christmas and continues through Dec. 31, with families lighting a candle nightly in the Kwanzaa candle holder or kinara, according to the holiday’s description.
Each day is devoted to a different value, beginning with Umoja or unity, followed by Kujichagulia or self-determination, Ujima or collective responsibility, Ujamaa or cooperative economics, Nia or purpose, Kuumba or creativity and Imani or faith.
