On February 8, 2015, I went to the Kuumba Festival at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Jonathan Campbell, one of the Artistic Associates for this festival.
Mr. Campbell helped to plan the events that took place at the Harbourfront Centre. He was a very busy man because of the “hundreds of things to do” for the events that took place. Mr. Campbell decided the themes for the weekend and how many artists to invite. He even had to decide which film to choose, and what arrangements to make.
Mr. Campbell told me that the festival was especially anticipated this year, because it was both the event’s twentieth anniversary and it is happening in February—the celebratory month for Black History.
Harbourfront Centre created the festival to foster better cultural connections in our community. “We make events in this building with the goal of getting our entire community to be able to get together, talk, and celebrate,” said Mr. Campbell.
Many people at the Harbourfront Centre helped organize this event. “Organizers may come from every single department in our building,” said Mr. Campbell. “There is a department that focuses on cultural engagement, as well as the essential department for planning.”
At the festival, I saw a series of short films playing on the big screen. The films are from National Film Board (NFB) and they speak of past generations of activists, fighters, survivors and ordinary folk in Afro-Canada’s rich history. The other main attraction at the festival was making “perfect paper glasses.” It is called A is for Afrofuturism – Futuristic Lenses.
“To me it doesn’t matter how many visitors come as long as everyone here has fun.” Mr. Campbell was not sure of the exact number of visitors at the festival, but almost a hundred people watched the dance performance by the rink the preceding Saturday, and about a thousand people have come skating at the outdoor DJ event during the entire winter.
