By Raymond Jones
Separated by time and oceans, echoing the traditions of ancestors from West Africa, Yoruba culture lives and thrives in the form of the ODUNDE festival in Philadelphia.
Over 100,000 people attended this year’s ODUNDE, celebrating another year of African and African American culture. It is the largest African-centered festival in the United States. Bumi Fernandez West continues the work of her late mother’s vision — ODUNDE founder Lois Fernandez — by hosting and coordinating the festival with its eclectic African and African American mix of live music, arts and crafts, as well as local and international vendors.
The official start of ODUNDE began at noon with a procession of 200 people walking towards the Schuylkill River, under the South Street bridge, to honor the God Oshun with offerings of fruit and wine.
“We go to the river to pay homage to God and to thank God for allowing ODUNDE to last for 48 years,” Fernandez West said. Dressed in ornate red and white traditional African garb and headdress, Fernandez West is a force of nature as the event’s leader.
As she led the procession of 200 people to officially begin the festival, walking several blocks from 22nd and Grays Ferry to the South Street Bridge, the sound of drums and singers of traditional West African songs, reverberated throughout the crowd. Residents from the neighborhood leading to the bridge stopped to take photos of the singers and dancers. Beautiful bright colored outfits complimented the performer’s faces, which represented every shade of brown in the rainbow.
After the procession, ODUNDE officially began with over 150 vendors opening to visitors attending from all over the world. By 2 p.m., hundreds of people walked along the 15 blocks, bartering with vendors, buying food from food trucks, and dancing to African music as far as the eye could see.
According to Fernandez West, ODUNDE has a $28 million economic impact on the City of Philadelphia.
“This was a rough year for me,” said festival attendee Dawn Williams, a 44-year-old Philadelphian. “I feel like to get my summer right, I have to come to ODUNDE.” Williams said participating in ODUNDE is part of a family tradition. Her teenage son is the third generation of her family to attend the festival, she said. “You stand long enough on a corner during ODUNDE, and you will see a family member or an old friend,” Williams said.
Shiri Achu, a 47-year-old artist originally from Cameroon, now living in London, is one of the dozens of international vendors that attended the festival. Her paintings capture scenes associated with African culture highlighting her specialty — drawings of Maasai Warriors and the landscapes of Kenya.
“Attending ODUNDE is the closest I have come to Africa since I left Cameroon,” Achu said.
According to research, ODUNDE is a direct link to the Yoruba people and religion practiced in Southwest Nigeria and Benin. Through the Atlantic Slave Trade, the Yoruba People brought their complex mix of worshiping several gods, spirits, and ancestral worship to the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and other parts of the Caribbean. The most important god in the Yoruba pantheon is Olorun, who is the creator god. He is often depicted as a sun god responsible for everything that happens in the world.
The other major gods include Obatala, the god of fertility, Oshun, the goddess of love and beauty and Shango, the god of thunder and lightning.
Fernandez West said that the festival has always been held in South Philadelphia because of the neighborhood’s historic African American significance.
“My mother told me that South Philly has always had a significant Black presence,” she said. “Gentrification just got here — we’ve been here.”
For 48 years ODUNDE has intentionally created a marketplace organized and supported by and for African Americans and Africans as a means of empowering the African American community economically.
“I want people to feel when they come to ODUNDE, that we can support each other, love up on one another, and enjoy these moments.” Fernandez West said.
Fernandez West said her mother created ODUNDE in 1975 after a visit to Nigeria in 1971.
“I like to say that those who may not be able to visit Africa, we bring Africa to you,” Fernandez West said.
This year, ODUNDE 2023 sponsored a few events during the week leading up to the festival on Sunday which included a yoga class, a fashion program, an African roundtable, and Caribbean roundtable discussions.
The end of the event culminated in a live performance by R&B singer Chrisette Michelle. Some of the sponsors for this ODUNDE 2023 included: Xfinity, PECO, WURD, Power 99, The Philadelphia Tribune and WHYY.
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