It will be an end of the summer intercontinental evening picnic when the St. Albert-based Africans and African Descendants Friendship Club (AADFC) arrives at Lions Park.
This Sunday, Aug. 29, event is designed as an annual general meetup for the public. The third annual event follows the success of the popular Taste of Africa, which was held virtually but still with resounding popularity at the end of February.
Club founder Helen Agbonison described the gathering as not only a way to provide an organizational presence for the notable and growing cultural demographic in the city, but also as a venue for others to approach them in neighbourly friendship and camaraderie.
"If people are in the park, they could all feel free to stop by and say, 'Hi.' Basically, we're inviting our own community, the African community, and anyone.
"Recently with COVID, people have been wondering where are the people of African descent? Does St. Albert have people of African descent? I recently told somebody that called me that, because of COVID, you don't see people out so much and because of how people are so busy working," she began.
"You might not likely see people of African descent just gathered unless you have an event around it. That's when you see lots of people of African descent. It's one of such events that if someone is like, ‘Oh, I want to see the African community,’ OK, come to the park and meet the people of African descent. Here we are."
The celebration will start at 5 p.m. with food and music and much conversation. The group has invited elected officials to attend, but that invitation is open to the general public as well.
Agbonison moved to St. Albert from Nigeria in 2010 and remarked on being proud of her new home when she spoke to the Gazette in 2019 upon the AADFC's first event in the park.
St. Albert's 2016 census indicated that there were 520 African immigrants in the city and 975 people of African origin. The city's population grew by 2.22 per cent since then.
The friendship club offers a community within the community, Agbonison indicated.
"Just to have people come together and have a voice and support each other … because we are all different with different cultures. It helps us to preserve some of our culture through the event and also to educate other people."
The AADFC also has lots of future events planned for the general population, starting with some cooking events for Alberta Culture Days in September. Anyone can stay tuned for that and more by visiting the group's website at aadfc.ca or by visiting its Facebook page.
