ODUNDE 2014

ODUNDE has been held every 2nd Sunday in June, in South Philadelphia for the past 39 years. It is one of the largest African-American street festivals in the country. Everyone looks forward to the African marketplace with vendors from all over, including Africa, the Caribbean and Brazil (odundefestival.org). I've been attending ODUNDE since I can remember. My family was born and raised in South Philly so it's sort of tradition to attend every year. When I was younger, one of my grandma's close friends lived by the ODUNDE headquarters so we had front row seats to all the action. One year my family let my cousins and I vend; we sold chips, pretzels, sodas and waters. And we all know how hot it can be at ODUNDE, so we made a killing. We were hype at the end of the day when we got our cut of the profits!

This year felt different because I was sharing this experience with my fellow blog sisters. We matched a little with our tribal prints on. When we arrived we were on a mission to find some unique jewelry and eat some good food. It was really crowded; I guess all the attendees had the same idea to come at 5pm when it wasn't too hot. And of course we all know it's a part of ODUNDE experience to see people we know; some we haven't seen in years!

[caption id="attachment_1095" align="alignright" width="300"] Cajun Cuisine[/caption]

We were a little hesitant to stand in the long food lines but they were moving pretty fast. We tried food from Cajun Cuisine. I had some fried chicken wings, macaroni & cheese and fries. No those two sides don't go together but that's all they had left lol. It was pretty good too. After we were done eating, we got a spot near the stage located on 23rd and South Streets. We were just in time to see Messiah Danceworks and singer Noni Renee perform. But of course we all were excited to see the legendary hip hop icon Rakim grace the stage.

ODUNDE is not just one day out of the year, it occurs 365. The CEO, Oshunbumi Fernandez created ODUNDE365. “ODUNDE365 provides year round African and African-American cultural programming in schools, community centers and public venues. ODUNDE365 consists of 4 programs: ODUNDE365 African dance & drumming classes, I AM B.U.M.I. PROJECT, MY STORY and ODUNDE365 arts & crafts classes. Currently these programs have culturally impacted the lives of thousands of people(odundefestival.org)." Make sure to check out odundefestival.org for all their upcoming events this year.