National Somali Bantu Festival

About twenty years ago, most somali bantu never imagined we would be living incities, or in another country, let alone a continent on other side of the world. Today thousands of Somali Bantu live across the united states as refugees. here we are learning alot about the posibilities of life seeking justice, equality and success through education. even though much is changing for us and our children in this new country, we must still celebrate the importance of our ancient culture, the stories of our past, and skills we have developed over generations.

The Somali Bantu National Heritage Event is a free 3 day gathering of Somali Bantu refugees from accross the united states. Through shearing of stories, creative materials, tradisional dance, and sports Somali Bantu from the nearly 12000 families resettled across the united states will reconnect with each other and connect with neighbors in pittsburgh by shearing  our unique culture and history.

Friday evening will begin the vent with a summit of community leaders to discuss challenges we are experiancing as refugees in the country, exploring the knowlege and support of Somali Bantu living in other cities. can we join forces to tackle common strugles? are we acheiving our dreams in America and how are they changing? how are we all supporting young leaders to shape our future? how can amplify our voices in the cities where we now live?

Saturday will be activities for all ages: traditional and contemporary story telling, dance and music performances, henna artists and feast of traditional homemade Somali Bantu foods. this will happen alongside a soccer tournament where teams accross united state compete for the 2021 Natinal Somali Bantu Games title. the festivities will go all day and sunday will be the final tournament games, the awards ceremony for the winners and farewells.

2021 National Somali Bantu festival will be held on Pittsburgh's northside at around northview heights from october 29th to oct 31st. we  expect attendance from Somali Bantu communities in Central america and north America. soccer teams from seven cities as well as attendance by represensitives from the unhcr refugee congress.

we will have trained local Somali Bantu docamentarians to collect and share stories and performances at the event.

by october 15th, we will have park permits, reserved meeting spaces and security and confirmation from local and regional musicians, performers and traditional culinary artists. marketing and promation will include flyers, press releases, and social media begining also october 15th. we would seek to collabrate with community leaders and agencies. the welcomimg pittsburgh and golobal switch board are our partners.

As new residents to Pittsburgh we are facing a lot of challenges covid 19 related and this event helps us unify solutions, form allegiances and learn from each other.  In the struggle to balance our cultural identity with the culture of our new home, this event provides Somali Bantu an opportunity to remember and pass on to our children a breath of traditions from the diverse Somali Bantu now scattered across the United States. Youth will always adapt to what is popular, but understanding their history and finding community in sports gives them more strength to face adversity to direct them away from dangerous gang activity we see some joining. This event will build the foundation for connections between groups, engaging youth programs, and moving even further toward academic and economic success.  

We also believe that sharing our rich culture with our new neighbors in Pittsburgh builds connections with others living here.  As Pittsburgh is becoming an increasingly international city, it is important that we all understand the cultural assets existing within our borders.  In this country as we are nearly all immigrants, coming to the US for a better life. As we share stories of hopes and dreams, we can connect with the histories of everyone in this city, the experience both of being newcomers, and even having been colonized in our native Somalia. Connecting through stories, sharing cultural traditions, realizing the assets we each hold, will do nothing but enrich the strength and vitality of our city. 

We have hosted similar events for our traditional holidays with great success and attendance, but this will be the first where communities from multiple cities will be brough together.  Hopefully Pittsburgh is the first location of a regular national Somali Bantu event that will benefit cities across the US.  Thank you for joining us in this endeavor.