Africa Festival Rome

A piece of Africa at the gates of the Appia Antica

The Africa Festival is a free event held in Rome, in the Quarto Miglio district of Municipio VII, within the Appia Joy Park on Via Annia Regilla 245. The park, overlooking the green area of the Appia Antica, offers spacious, tree-lined grounds that for one day transform into a village dedicated to the cultures of the African continent: food stalls, live music stages, workshop areas, and an artisan market.

The event stems from the Cultural Contaminations project promoted by the Sarti del Gusto association, which has been working for years on bringing people together through art, traditions, and above all, gastronomy. In just a few years, the Africa Festival has become one of the most popular events in the capital's southeast quadrant, so much so that in 2025, two editions were held in the same year, one in spring and one in autumn.

Gastronomy as a primary language

The heart of the day is the large African street food area, where the stalls represent highly diverse culinary traditions. Recent editions have featured stands from Ethiopia, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cape Verde, and Congo, with guest appearances from Mauritius and Mozambique. It is a rare opportunity in Rome to taste dishes that tell stories of distant geographies all in one afternoon.

• Typical dishes served fresh by African communities residing in the capital
• Ethiopian coffee ceremony, a slow and convivial ritual offered in the afternoon
• Artisan market with fabrics, jewelry, and African-made objects
• Vintage and green market areas alongside the food stands

Music, dance, and percussion

The live program accompanies the entire day. It features a rotation of Lusophone music groups, percussion ensembles like Africa Djembe and Akwaba, and contemporary African dance performances. The grand finale is traditionally entrusted to the show and djembe workshop led by Elhadji Goree, which engages the audience until the evening closing. In previous editions, the choreography was also curated by Ashai Lombardo Arop.

Alongside the music, there is space for in-depth moments: the mid-day literary café, curated with the contribution of the Ethiopian Community, offers book presentations dedicated to African and African-American cultures. There is also a more spectacular and lighthearted side, with the Mister Africa contest and the related afternoon awards ceremony.

An event designed for families

The Africa Festival is built to be enjoyable for the little ones as well: percussion workshops for children aged six and up are now a classic of the event, as are the participatory dance moments where the public is invited to join in on the lawn in front of the stage. Free admission and the open-air format, from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM, allow visitors to plan their day at their own pace, perhaps combining it with a walk in the nearby Appia Antica Park.

Rome and its communities

In the landscape of events in the Lazio region, the Africa Festival occupies a unique space: it is neither a village fair nor a large music festival, but a neighborhood celebration with an international vocation, built together with the African communities that live and work in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The result is a day where the convivial dimension—eating, dancing, listening—becomes the most direct tool for learning about cultures often only mentioned in passing.