WHERE: South Street between 21st and 23rd Streets extending to GraysFerry Avenue and Christian Streets. Philadelphia, PA
ODUNDE attracts over 600,000 people annually and is one of the largest community- based street festivals held in the country. The festival, whose concept originates from the Yorba people of Nigeria, West Africa, celebrates the coming of another year for African Americans and Africanized people around the world. It is an occasion highlighted by a colorful procession from 23rd and South Streets to the Schuylkill River where an offering of fruit and flowers is made to Oshun, the Yoruba goddess of the river. ODUNDE is also known for its authentic African marketplace featuring vendors from around the world selling merchandise from many African nations, the Caribbean and Brazil.
Each year, the second Sunday in June, ODUNDE, one of the nations oldest African American street festivals take place. ODUNDE will be celebrating its 35rd year in the traditional south Philadelphia location near 23rd and South streets. The festival started in 1975 with a $100.00 grant and neighbors from Fernandez's south Philadelphia community. In two years the ODUNDE Festival exploded. The eclectic mix of vendors, entertainment and music started to draw people from around and beyond the region and each year continues to be no different.
Although ODUNDE is best known for its highly visible annual festival, it provides educational, cultural and activist services throughout the year which support its mission. Many of its larger programs are sponsored or presented as collaborations with cultural, educational or business institutions which share ODUNDE's mission. If you would like to sponsor an ODUNDE program, contract our services, or obtain additional information contact us by phone, mail, email or on the web at the address provided. Our most popular year-round programs include:
Thru African Doors
Dance, musical and theatrical performances; workshops, lectures and demonstrations featuring African and African American Culture and Folklife traditions. These programs can be targeted to any age group, and offer a wide range of programming from lectures by well-known scholars to African dancers and drummers, storytellers, steppers, doll makers, traditional fashions and hair braiders.
Project Zero
A component of Thru African Doors targeted to youth in Kindergarten to High School, which offers African-centered Rites of Transformation programs to schools and social organizations.
Cultural Caravan
Cultural excursions and exchange programs, for youth and adults, to key African American historic sites and cultural attractions, in collaboration with The Black Family Reunion Cultural Center.
From Hucklebuck to Hip-Hop
An annual series of local dances which uniquely combine entertainment with history, by providing an opportunity for local residents of all ages to recall the popular African American dances of their youth.
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