This year, the celebration will be virtual, but no less joyous.
The celebration began in the late 1970s as a “block party” at the end of the academic year, and was held in various locations on campus over the next decade or so. In the 1980s, it received its current name, and through the years, it evolved into a weeklong celebration. For the past nine years, each festival has used a Swahili word as its theme. This year, the word is “Furaha,” which translates as “rejoicing.”
The festival is now held under the auspices of the Multicultural Center at Ohio State, where Intercultural Specialist for African and African American Studies Initiatives Katherine Betts has been supervising the students who plan and carry it out for the past nine years.