By Daisha Williams

The Jollof Festival began its national run in Oakland on Saturday July 13. The festival was held outside at 1255 Seventh St., near the West Oakland BART Station.

The event was co-produced by Ishmael Osekre, Quiana Webster, and Njleone. The Jollof Festival started 17 years ago, an event centered around a prevalent debate in Black culture: Who makes the best Jollof? Each year every city the festival visits gets to vote on which West African country makes the best Jollof.

In response to local requests, the festival began coming to Oakland in 2018. The Bay has been incredibly welcoming – this year there was a line down the block even hours after the festival had started.

On the walls of the Seventh Street building were beautiful murals and artwork even adorned the fence surrounding the event, adding to the vibe of the space.

Vendors – including Vibrant Designs and Red Ruby Boutique – rimmed the venue, separated from a seating area with the dance floor in the center. Also along the perimeter was the tasting area where people could order food or pick up their pre-ordered plate. AfroEats, MAMA”s Sauces and Marinades, and Eko Kitchen were among the caterers.

Although the rice is what brings people to the festival, community is really the heart of it. People stay long after the rice is gone, dancing, talking, and singing together.

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“Our focus is on Jollof rice and this really fun cultural  banter that is happening around it. But it’s not just food… there are all these activities that make it a fun, friendly, communal, and intercultural experience.” said co-producer Osekre.

Like a true cultural event, the thing that brought the most people together was the music. Everyone was on the dance floor, feeling the music that vibrated through the event. There were DJ’s such as DJ Leonne Brayo the DJ and performers including @jahniahomi and @olujazz on Instagram.

Fun for all ages, many families brought their kids and there was even a corner with games for them to play.

Around an hour before the event was over organizers called up volunteer judges from the audience. Each judge tested four different rice plates and rated each on a scale of 1 to 10. Everyone quieted as the scores were being announced, reacting loudly afterwards.

This was the most exciting part of the event with everyone rooting for their own countries.

Before the judging they emphasized that it doesn’t matter who wins because we’re all united as a community.

On July 20 the Jollof Festival will be in Atlanta, Georgia. It will then go to Washington, D.C., Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Durham, Dallas, and finally Houston.

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