{"id":32547,"date":"2015-09-11T06:41:21","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T10:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=32547"},"modified":"2015-09-11T06:55:14","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T10:55:14","slug":"african-american-cultural-festival-draws-thousands-to-downtown-raleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2015\/09\/11\/african-american-cultural-festival-draws-thousands-to-downtown-raleigh\/","title":{"rendered":"African American Cultural Festival Draws Thousands to Downtown Raleigh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chidiogo Maxwell enjoyed the smell of the rain as she and other attendees huddled together under shelter. Children clung close to their parents’ sides waiting for the drizzle to stop. The aroma of barbecue and spices were still rich in the air while the jazzy notes of Al Strong\u2019s trumpet came to an end as the streets cleared.<\/p>\n

On Sep. 5, the 6th annual African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County was disrupted by the rain, but the excitement and joy continued to linger throughout the streets.<\/p>\n

Maxwell moved to America from Enugu, Nigeria, six years ago with her family. She said the Raleigh event reminded her of her home city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to have the Nigerian trade fair which lasted for as long as a week and people would buy, sell, and just have a good time,\u201d she said. \u201cThere were dances performed, artists, music, food, clothes, jewelry. You name it. The art present at the Raleigh festival was what really reminded me of home. They were all so colorfully vibrant and creative.”<\/p>\n

\"\u201cIt\u2019s<\/a>

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s like a little piece of home.\u201d Nigerian native Chidiogo Maxwell said while attending the event with her family on Saturday.<\/p><\/div>\n

Organizers were expecting 15,000 attendees but the on-again, off-again rain created a smaller crowd. The Labor Day weekend festival celebrated African American culture through music, community engagement, art and food. The event was free and open to the public.<\/p>\n

Jewelry designer Zoe Lee said she continues to sell her work at the cultural festival because there is always something different to see and she appreciates people supporting small black-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

Taylor Griffin, a student at one of U.S. News\u2019s top-ranked HBCU\u2019s, North Carolina A&T University, attended the festival with her boyfriend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the fact that there\u2019s a lot of different cultures here,\u201d she said. \u201cI go every year and it\u2019s the first time it\u2019s rained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/h6>
<\/i> permalink<\/a><\/h6>

Taylor Griffin, left, attends the festival with her boyfriend Keaton Gilchrist on Saturday. \u201cI like the fact that there\u2019s a lot of different cultures here. I go every year and it\u2019s the first time it\u2019s rained.\u201d<\/p><\/div>

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/h6>
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Attendees of the 6th Annual African American\nCultural Festival sit with umbrellas at the Main\nStage in the rain on Saturday September 5,\n2015.<\/p><\/div>

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/h6>
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Jazz Trumpeter Al Strong performs on the Main Stage on Saturday September 5, 2014, at the 6th Annual African American Cultural Festival.<\/p><\/div>

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/h6>
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Artisans such as Zoe Lee sale their crafts at the festival. On display are earrings by Zoe Lee Designs. \u201cThere\u2019s always something different to see. It\u2019s great that people come out to support small black businesses.\u201d<\/p><\/div>

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/h6>
<\/i> permalink<\/a><\/h6>

\u201cIt\u2019s like a little piece of home.\u201d Nigerian native\nChidiogo Maxwell said while attending the event with her family on Saturday.<\/p><\/div>

Sophia Allison \/ Raleigh Public Record<\/h6>
<\/i> permalink<\/a><\/h6>

Loyal attendees continue to enjoy the market despite the rain.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Sep. 5, the 6th annual African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County was disrupted by the rain, but the excitement and joy continued to linger throughout the streets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24061,"featured_media":32553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24061"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}