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Odunde Festival returns after two years of going virtual

Festivities start on June 8, with the main event on June 12.

At the Odunde Festival in 2019, Maya Vance, 5, helps her family get their clothing kiosk ready for the many visitors that have come to South Street and 23rd Street to celebrate the largest African American street festival.
At the Odunde Festival in 2019, Maya Vance, 5, helps her family get their clothing kiosk ready for the many visitors that have come to South Street and 23rd Street to celebrate the largest African American street festival.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer
    by Ximena Conde
    Updated 
    Published 

The colorful African textiles, handmade jewelry, rhythmic sounds, and flavorful foods associated with Odunde are returning to Philadelphia after a two-year hiatus this June.

This year’s celebration, which organizers call the largest African American street festival in the United States, will be in-person on June 12 after two years of virtual festivities due to the pandemic, with four days of additional programming beginning June 8.

“People have been in their houses, affected by the pandemic,” said Odunde CEO Oshunbumi Fernandez-West, daughter of Lois Fernandez, who founded the festival in 1975. “Now they’re out, they’re here to eat some good food, buy some great museum-quality art, everything.”

Inspired by West African traditions honoring the Yoruban river goddess associated with love, the Odunde has grown from a small celebration among Fernandez’s family and friends to an official Philadelphia event with the city contributing $250,000. Fernandez died in 2017.

» READ MORE: Founder of Odunde Festival is gone, but her legacy will live on

The festival draws thousands of people and organizers say the modern version of the one-day Sunday festival has a $28 million economic impact on the city.

Leading into the festival this year, Odunde will host a food giveaway, an African hair-wrapping and food-tasting event, and two business roundtables at Temple University.

The June 12 festival itself will kick off at noon with a procession on the South Street Bridge. Participants will toss flowers into the Schuylkill as an offering to Oshun, the Yoruba river goddess. Revelers can then head to South Street, from 20th to 24th Streets, where they’ll be met by vendors and performers.

Already, Fernandez-West said, the surrounding neighborhood is abuzz as organizers take to the streets to put up festival fliers.

“Everyone is creating that whole vibe, that whole ambiance, the whole spirit of Odunde,” she said.

And following a particularly violent holiday weekend in which 13 people were killed, Fernandez-West said the festival also offers Philly a sense of community during a difficult time.

“I hope Odunde creates a rebirth where people say, ‘You know what, let me stop this violence, let me know who I am, let me know my worth,’” said Fernandez-West. “That’s what Odunde’s been doing for 47 years.”