THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
The 13th Afrika Festival Potsdam/Brandenburg at the weekend was a complete success – around 2,000 visitors flocked to Potsdam’s Luisenplatz (Luisen Square) on each of the two days of the festival.
The festival kicked off on Friday with a lively and colourful street parade through the streets of Potsdam, featuring traditional African music, dance and costumes, showcasing the vibrant spirit of Africa.
The entire programme of music, information, food and drink stands, fashion parade and a children’s programme were enthusiastically received during the 2-day cultural fiesta.
A total of six bands from very different genres and from all over Germany thrilled the audience who frenetically celebrated the bands and danced and danced to their music.
The headliners were Joyce Ejiogu, Alade Global Music, Abeneko & The Positive Mind, Nwakanwa and the Nzuko Ndigbo Potsdam, who transformed the market square into a huge open-air dance floor with a range of African music genres, from soulful gospel to Afrobeats, from rhythmic reggae to traditional African music. Both festival days ended with a disco, where visitors partied to DJ music.
Under the motto ‘Sustainability of African history, culture & heritage’, the 2024 festival brought together Africans, Germans and people of other nationalities to promote intercultural understanding and peaceful co-existence.
“We are delighted that the festival was well attended and it proves that Potsdam is a cosmopolitan and culturally friendly city,” Mrs Charity Okezie-Andesine, festival director/founder said.
“The Afrika Festival Potsdam/Brandenburg stands for living diversity and encounters,” she added. “It brings people from all backgrounds and nationalities together to experience diversity and it shows that we can overcome borders.”
For her, art and culture help society to achieve more tolerance and a sense of community, and she thanked the organising team as well as the sponsors, especially the City of Potsdam, “without whom the festival would not have been possible”.
The Afrika Festival Potsdam/Brandenburg is organised annually by the Internationales Center (ICDI e. V.) with the support of numerous migrant self-organisations, Potsdamer GmbH, Potsdamer Mitbürger and sponsored by the City of Potsdam.
Femi Awoniyi
