Traditional West African Religious Ceremony

International African Arts Festival (IAAF)

The International African Arts Festival (IAAF) began in 1971 as the African Street Carnival. Over the past four decades, IAAF has expanded into a ten-acre African open-air market with entertainment stages featuring both local traditional artists and artists with roots in the traditional arts who have grown to achieve national and international acclaim. Each summer, over 75,000 people flock to Commodore Barry Park to sample African delicacies, shop for colorful fabrics and clothing, attend workshops on yoga, holistic wellness, traditional medicine, and participate in spiritual ceremonies led by artists including Ghanaian drummer and BAC Teaching Artist Harold Akyeampong

For more than 25 years, OBAATANPA House of Hope International, a Brooklyn-based Ghanaian Akan spiritual and cultural organization, has organized Nana Asuo Gyebi Afahye at the IAAF. Nana Asuo Gyebi Afahye is a Ghanaian Akan celebration of life, natural living, and thanksgiving that incorporates traditional healing practices practiced in Brooklyn. Harold Akyeampong and the Ritual Aid Society will guide visitors through the ceremony and help them navigate this sacred space. (Please, no photos or video permitted.)