Afro-Peruvian Fest

Bay Area Alameda County African/African-American Latino/a/x Dance Music Afro-Peruvian 2021

Afro-Peruvian Fest is the first Afro-Peruvian festival organized in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 2006, it has gathered artists and cultural bearers residing in California to celebrate Afro-Peruvian culture. Every June, the festival offers performances, concerts, workshops, and interviews with Afro-Peruvian culture bearers. Free workshops in the Peruvian cajon (a box-shaped percussion instrument) and zapateo (dance/rhythmic footwork) are offered to children and adults from the local Peruvian, Latino, and African American communities.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first virtual Afro-Peruvian Fest was held, offering a unique opportunity to create bridges with Afro-Peruvian cultural bearers residing in Peru. In 2021, a grant from ACTA’s Living Cultures Grant Program will support the second virtual Afro-Peruvian Fest, once again offering virtual concerts and workshops for all ages.