Umoja Fest 2025 Celebrates Unity — and Brings Out the Smiles

On Saturday, Aug. 2, with the booming sounds of the Blue Angels flying overhead, the Umoja Fest Parade wound its way down 23rd Avenue South from South Cherry Street to South Jackson Street, where it took a right into Judkins Park for the festival. The two-day Africatown Heritage Festival & Parade is an official Seafair event, part of a long history of Central District summer festivals that goes back six decades.

The festival celebrates the Northwest's African American Community with music, dance, food, and cultural festivities. This year's event featured a line-up of local and national talent on the Soul in the City Stage, including Zaina the Phenom, Justnice, JusJada, and headliner Cupid the Line Dance King on Aug. 2. The following day showcased Vibe Bingo, Surround Sound Band, Nehemiah Booker, and headliners Johnny Gill and Mr. Cheeks.

In addition to music, the Soul in the City Stage featured a "Collegiate Couture" Fashion Show, which emphasized the contributions of historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. Throughout the festival, thousands of people ate food, drank beverages, gazed at art, and received information from dozens of vendors.

In Swahili, "umoja" means "unity." The organizers describe the festival as "the most unifying celebration in the community," one that drew hundreds of smiling faces.