About The Festival
The African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County is an annual celebration of African American culture as expressed through art, music, food and community. Over the past seven Labor Day weekends, the two day festival has connected diverse people and families from across our region with local, national, and international artists, performers, food vendors, area business owners, and our local media outlets. The festival has become Raleigh's premiere destination for teaching, sharing, and celebrating the distinctive folk and cultural traditions of African Americans here in North Carolina and from around the world.
Festival History
The festival program plan was developed under the guidance of the African American Cultural Festival Governing Board, whose members were appointed by the Wake County Board of Commissioners and Raleigh City Council in August 2008. Both elected bodies charged the Governing Board with creating a major festival that would become an outstanding tourist destination event. Artsplosure, the organization responsible for many Triangle arts events including the annual Spring Arts Festival, and First Night Raleigh on New Year’s Eve was contracted to provide planning, organizational, and financial expertise, among other essential services in 2009. The inaugural festival was held on September 4th and 5th, 2010 and exceeded expectations, with more than 15,000 in attendance.
During 2010 the AACF secured its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. In 2013, the fiscal agent partnership with Artsplosure was discontinued, and the Governing Board of Directors assumed sole responsibility of planning, managing, and operating the festival. The 2017 Labor Day event brought more than 38,000 people downtown and featured more than fifty juried artists and vendors, a Family Village with crafts and entertainment geared toward children and families, as well as local and national musical acts on the Main Stage on City Plaza. The festival continues to grow, and each year, the Governing Board and festival staff works toward the goal of bringing a vibrant, lively, and educational festival to the heart of downtown Raleigh.
2017 Governing Board of Directors
Mr. David K. Baker (Board Chair)
Attorney
David K. Baker Law Firm
Mr. Grady Bussey (Vice-Chair)
Center Director, Top Greene
City of Raleigh Parks & Recreation
Mr. Charles Stephenson, Jr. (Secretary)
Author/Historian
Dr. Paul Norman (Treasurer)
Dean of First Year Experience
St. Augustine’s University
Ms. Laura Bethea
Title IX Investigator
Wake Technical Community College
Ms. Shamber Gentry
Adjunct Accounting Instructor
Wake Technical Community College
Mr. Moses T. Alexander Greene
Director, African American Cultural Center
North Carolina State University
Mr. Allen Mason, Founder, City Hill Events
Independent Sales Representative
Midland National
Ms. Lebone C. Moses, MBA, CISA
Director, Enterprise Cyber Security
Fidelity Investments
Ms. Salima Thomas
Director of Member Engagement
NC Center for Nonprofits
Mr. Corey Branch (Ex-Officio)
Councilor, Raleigh City Council
Dr. James West (Ex-Officio)
Chair, Wake County Commissioner