Ireland hosts its largest ever Africa Day celebration
This year, 30 Local Authorities across the country hosted an array of entertaining and interesting events to mark Africa Day 2023.
African music, dance, art and performance was showcased in towns across Ireland recently as the country’s largest ever Africa Day celebrations took place.
Tens of thousands of people sampled the vibrancy and diversity of African cultures in celebrations that highlighted the growing links between Ireland and the continent.
The Department of Foreign Affairs partnered with 30 local authorities across Ireland to host events. Ranging from musical performances to sports days, cookery demonstrations to fashion shows, the events all highlighted cultures from across Africa, as well as the contribution people of African heritage continue to make to communities all over Ireland.
County Councils and City Councils from Cork to Donegal got behind Africa Day this year, with thousands of people enjoying learning about a vast continent of 54 countries and over 2,000 languages.
African music, dance, art and performance was showcased in towns across Ireland recently as the country’s largest ever Africa Day celebrations took place.
Tens of thousands of people sampled the vibrancy and diversity of African cultures in celebrations that highlighted the growing links between Ireland and the continent.
The Department of Foreign Affairs partnered with 30 local authorities across Ireland to host events. Ranging from musical performances to sports days, cookery demonstrations to fashion shows, the events all highlighted cultures from across Africa, as well as the contribution people of African heritage continue to make to communities all over Ireland.
County Councils and City Councils from Cork to Donegal got behind Africa Day this year, with thousands of people enjoying learning about a vast continent of 54 countries and over 2,000 languages.
The centrepiece of this year’s celebrations was a special Africa Day celebration at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin on May 21st. Attended by over 6,000 people over the course of the day, the event saw over 40 performers and cultural groups come together to celebrate Africa.
Music was provided by Celaviedami, the Discovery Gospel Choir, Rhythm Africana, Kiruu, SBEZ, Troy Okay, and Monte DJ.
The dance performance area saw performances by Tobi Balogun, No Whahala Crew, The Zoryanna, Iggy Kelly and the Congolese Community in Ireland.
In the ‘cultural village’, groups from Zambia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Angola, Tanzania, Uganda displayed crafts and symbols from their countries.
The event also saw the first public exhibition of Zambian art in Ireland, with paintings by leading Zambian artist Patrick Mumba on display.
Africa Day is an important moment for Africa and people of African heritage all over the world. It is also an important day for countries such as Ireland to highlight the importance of building friendships and links across Africa.
In 2019, Ireland launched a strategy for how it would deepen its engagement across Africa. The third annual review of Ireland’s Africa Strategy was launched in May, reporting on Ireland’s activities with African countries in 2022.
It found that political, trade, development assistance and educational links between Ireland and Africa are all at record highs.
Africa Day 2023 was another example of the deepening links between Ireland and the people of Africa.