Capital City Kwanzaa Festival – December 26, 2015

Advance tickets for the 2015 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival are $6, general admission, $5 for students, 12 – 18 and $5 for seniors, 65 +. At the door tickets are $8, general admission, $ 7 for students, 12 – 18 and $7 for seniors, 65 +. Tickets for groups (at least 10 persons) are $ 5. Group tickets must be purchased in advance only. Advance tickets can be purchased online at https://efsinc.org or at the Elegba Folklore Society’s Cultural Center, 101 East Broad Street in Richmond, VA. Admission is free for children under 12.

Event Details

Richmond, VA • Elegba Folklore Society, Richmond’s Cultural Ambassador, presents the 2015 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival on Saturday, December 26, 1:00 p.m. – 9:00pm, returning this year to The Altria Theater, 6 N. Laurel Street, Richmond, Virginia. Newly renovated and named, this venue was formerly known as the Landmark Theater.

The 2015 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival presents a carefully planned series of events that please the palette of attendees and capture the spirit and the significance of the Kwanzaa holiday.

The festival’s main stage is alive with music, dance and message presented to strengthen families and galvanize the community. The African Market will be open with food and shopping. There will be children’s events, workshops and more in this nationally recognized, regionally attended observance of the Kwanzaa (quahn-zah) holiday. TheCapital City Kwanzaa Festival is one of the largest Kwanzaa celebrations on the east coast.

The Ancestral Libation and Candle Lighting Ceremony set the tone for the day. Attendees are invited to come and experience the Kwanzaa holiday right from the start! To observe this Pan-African holiday of unity, strength, clarity and solidarity based on reconnection with our essential African value systems, the 2015 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival’s thematic focus is on the first of the Nguzo Saba (n- GOO-zoh SAH- bah), the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, Umoja, and the power of unity within ourselves, in our homes and in our communities.

When we practice our Umoja, we can expect an unlimited reality and way of being. We are all connected, and elevation into Universal oneness & the practice of traditional African values can be natural and abundantly productive. The ills of American history and socialization have created a complexity of cultural confusion that can result in personal and social dysfunction or disharmony. The festival’s theme is aptly, I Live In Harmony With My People.

Festival events will occur as follows:

1:00pm The African Market Opens, filled with delicious foods plus books, unique handcrafted and imported items, art, home décor, natural body care, clothing, jewelry and more. Remains open throughout the event.

2:00pm The Pouring of Ancestral Libation and Kwanzaa Candle Lighting Ceremony, Affirmation of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles and the ancestors upon whose shoulders we stand. The lighting of candles and the ceremony will feature a call-and- response affirmation. The Elegba Folklore Society’s performing company will lead the ceremony.

2:30pm Opening Processional. Led by Elegba Folklore Society, the leaders of The Nia Sessions join to greet the audience and present an overview of each session. The Society’s performers will also offer African Dance, Music and the Oral Tradition. These dancers, drummers, and singers focus primarily on West Africa to spur an evolving understanding of the cultural and historical underpinnings of the dance and its music while showing its relationship to the United States. Further, audiences develop an appreciation for the dynamic nature and contemporary influence of this timeless art form.

4:30pm Tunji Reggae Band. Since 1981, The Tunji Band has been a staple provider of reggae music. The band has performed widely with Ziggy Marley, Gregory Isaacs, Third World, Steele Pulse, The Wailers and Burning Spear, among others.

Audiences will be treated with songs of revolution, peace, love and unity that deliver a tasteful selection of original music and covered standards.

4:30pm The Nia Sessions and Watoto Kwanzaa Begin. Included are Reiki Master, Richard C. Yates of The Joyce M. Branch Healing Place – alternative approaches to health maintenance, Harmony Organizing with Ayanna McMullen who will guide attendees in getting clear in mind and environment, African Affairs – sheds light on happenings on the continent, with Djibril Niang — and more. — and more. Mangala Jih, visual artist, crafter and educator will facilitate Watoto Kwanzaa activities. The Nia Sessions will be ongoing from 4:30p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

5:45pm Dr. Phil Valentine Speaks. Dr. Valentine is the founder, director and pastor of the Temple of the Healing Spirit—Self-Healing Education Center, co-Founder of The Institute for Self-Mastery, and just recently, Whole Wellness Live. A certified member of the International Association of Counselors and Therapists (I.A.C.T.), he received his doctorate in Hygienic Health Science and Classical Naturopathy from The Life Science Institute of Texas, now merged to the Fit for Life Sciences Institute—College of Natural Health in Canada.

A Hygienic Science and Metaphysical Health consultant to doctors and lay practitioners in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia, he was also a committee member and advisor to the Pan-African Review for Scientific Research and Political Studies where he served as an honorary health consultant to its membership, and he served as co-director of the Heal

Thyself Natural Living Education Center in Brooklyn.

Dr. Valentine established the former School of Arcane Sciences for advanced studies in metaphysics and the occult, and is best known for his ability to decipher and teach the subtlest principles of metaphysics and its application to health, healing, and everyday life in ways that may be understood by both the advanced student and the beginner-apprentice.

His topic for the 2015 Capital City Kwanzaa Festival follows the event’s theme, I Live In Harmony With My People. He will entertain questions from the audience and also facilitate a small group consultation.

7:00pm Afrikana Film Festival presents an independent short in illustration of Umoja or Unity to be followed by discussion.

8:00pm The Feedel Band. Many of Ethiopia’s greatest artists who create original songs inspired by the Golden Age of Ethiopian popular music in the late 1960s and 1970s are, together, The Feedel Band. The music hails from a time where Addis Ababa was ripe with groups playing brass -heavy mixes influenced by American soul and jazz. The members of Feedel Band are saxist, Moges, who can also be heard performing the funky James Brown-influenced cut “Muziqawi Silt” on Éthiopiques’ Volume 13 with the Walias Band. The bassist, Alemseged Kebede, is heard on many of Aster Aweke’s and Tilahune Gessesse’s releases. Araya Woldemichael is a composer, keyboardist and a leader. Kenneth Joseph is the drummer, Minale Bezu on krar (stringed lyre) and vocalist, Kalkidan Meshesha, who also performs traditional dance.

9:00 p.m. Festival Closes.