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Some 200 students and community members feasted on Ethiopian dishes and learned about African culture at the fourth annual African Extravaganza held in the Driscoll Ballroom last Friday.
The Ethiopian food was “really good. I loved it,” said junior Nami Ghebreab. Ghebreab is also the president of the Black Student Alliance.
Timasha Macklin, a freshman at Denver Community College, said, “I’m here to learn about our ancestors and our culture. I also really like the music.”
Many organizations and vendors were involved in the event. Some retail stores set up booths to sell African clothing, jewelry and purses. Other organizations such as the African Community Center, the Ghana Children’s Fund and Sudanese Standing Together were present to raise awareness about specific issues.
The Uganda Youth Culture Ensembles performed traditional African courting and royal dances, while the BaoBao Festival Pan African Dance Troup demonstrated traditional West African drumming and dancing. There was also an African fashion show, which featured African DU students dressed up to represent different African countries.
My favorite part was “the dancing, the music and the fashion show,” said Ghebreab. She represented Eritrea in the fashion show.
Turnout at this year’s event was larger than it had been in previous years. “The event has grown dramatically,” said Ghebreab. That’s “the best part about it.”
Julia Paul, volunteer coordinator at the African Community Center, said, “I think we had a fantastic turnout. There were certainly more people there than last year.”
She added, “The fashion show was bigger and better than last year and the music was, as always, very entertaining.”
Paul explained it was important this year to get a bigger turnout from the refugee and immigrant community. She said, “Transportation for the refugee community is always a problem,” but, “I think the refugees that did show up really had a great time. It’s wonderful, especially when you are new to this country, to get a little touch of home.”
Simultaneously, in an adjacent room, African videos were screened all evening. Some videos, such as “Peace Corps Africa” and “UNICEF- Show Your Character, Help Kids Around the World,” concerned larger more global issues within the African Community. Other movies such as “Somali Bantu: Denver Community Garden,” focused on the African community here in Denver.
Charece Adkins, a student at John Farley Academy, said, “It’s pretty cool how there are so many different people here celebrating my heritage and African culture.”
