{"id":231,"date":"2023-08-24T09:25:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T09:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/?p=231"},"modified":"2026-05-12T18:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:05:30","slug":"inaugural-afro-caribbean-festival-coming-to-county-of-brant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/inaugural-afro-caribbean-festival-coming-to-county-of-brant\/","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural Afro-Caribbean Festival coming to County of Brant"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kimberly de Jong | Brant Beacon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brant County\u2019s first Afro-Caribbean festival will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Paris\u2019 Lions Park on Saturday, September 9, 2023.<\/p>\n

The free event known as Afro-CariBrant will be hosted by Darmont Events, a business that focuses on custom event management for corporate, private and community events.<\/p>\n

Its Darmont GivesBack initiative is based on Tobi Adedayo, CEO of Darmont Events, belief in giving back to the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarmont GivesBack is really based on Tobi\u2019s belief in the power of community and the importance of giving back,\u201d said Essay Folami, Programs Director of Darmont Events. \u201cIt\u2019s our commitment to make an impact in the areas where we live and work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adedayo said that the event is a celebration of the rich culture, traditions and people of the African-Caribbean community in the County of Brant and Beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to Afro-CariBrant, it\u2019s going to be a fun family event with activities centered around children and adults,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are expecting music and entertainment and we\u2019re just really trying to showcase the culture of both the African heritage and Caribbean heritage and their overall involvement in the community. We wanted an event to showcase the beauty of the music, food and culture as we celebrate diversity. On the event day we will have both African and Caribbean artists in the likes of live entertainment including fire displays, live music from upcoming Afrobeat artists as well as dancers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day will consist of plenty of activities for all ages including a Kidzone with face painting, games, arts and crafts, and workshops.<\/p>\n

Guests are also encouraged to participate in the Afro-CariBrant parade as well as the fashion parade.<\/p>\n

Artisan vendors will be on site selling jewelry, paintings, sculptures, clothing and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also in the process of arranging to have an on-site scene painting going,\u201d added Folami. \u201cWe know this is just the first addition of the event and our expectation is to only get bigger as we go on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inaugural Afro-CariBrant festival will take place on Saturday, September 9, 2023 at Paris\u2019 Lions Park. Photo courtesy Darmont Events.<\/p>\n

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The two organizers said that for those looking to attend, guests will not be disappointed by the line-up of food and drink vendors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of food, we are expecting some rich cuisine and really, your tastebuds can\u2019t afford to not be there for that,\u201d laughed Folami. \u201cWe have food vendors lined up with dishes from Jollof rice to plenty of grilled cuisine. If you like spicy, there will be plenty of that there and we even have an Afro-Asian fusion mix that will be coming in as well. We just know everything will be delicious as always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Folami noted that the idea behind the event was to promote a thriving community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about the will to give back and the will to do more within a community. It\u2019s about the goodness in people and when you look at things \u2013 especially in the community of the County of Brant and the City of Brantford at large \u2013 it\u2019s thriving and you cannot help but appreciate the inclusiveness and the opportunity that is there,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a business, we recognize that we have a responsibility to use our resources and expertise to contribute to the greater good. We believe that by bringing people together in this light and giving them a place to get to know each other in a manner in which they can interact and do business together, we can really help to give back to the community and contribute. We wanted to promote the awareness and understanding of Afro-Caribbean community while celebrating the richness of culture.<\/p>\n

He said that the event will provide an opportunity for people to get to know each other on a deeper level.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if we really look at interpersonal relationships, if you don\u2019t know the antecedents of how and where people have been, you will not be able to appreciate them and we run the risk of misconception,\u201d said Folami. \u201cWith misconception comes \u2018oh I don\u2019t like this, or this person doesn\u2019t like me, so I\u2019ll stay in my lane.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the other goals of the event is promote social cohesion and community building among residents of Brantford and the County of Brant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have volunteers on the day to help educate and engage people in terms of the history of our Afro-Caribbean community, as well as an information booth with tips and tricks on how to better engage with the community. It\u2019s huge what people can do when we embrace inclusivity and togetherness, but you cannot include or embrace someone you do not know. So, this is one way we can get into the community and say \u2018we are here, and we appreciate the opportunities that are available here, so come out and get to know us more and see what we have to offer as well,\u201d concluded Folami.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brant County\u2019s first Afro-Caribbean festival will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Paris\u2019 Lions Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":238262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238263,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions\/238263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afrocaribrantfestival.org\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}