22nd Annual African Culture Fest At Cincinnati Museum Center

Grab your passports as Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal takes you on a whirlwind tour of Africa. Celebrate Africa's wide variety of cultures with the 22nd annual African Culture Fest. Begun in 1985 as a program for girl scouts at the old Natural History Museum on Gilbert Avenue, African Culture Fest has grown into one of Museum Center's longest-running and most popular events.

African Culture Fest is part of the Passport to the World series, an annual series of events that celebrates various cultures with a variety of displays, activities and performances. The events provide a forum where visitors can interact with and learn about community members of different cultures.

This year's event will feature the music, dance, arts, crafts and more that represent the cultures of Earth's second largest continent. Visitors can learn about the many African and African-influenced cultures first-hand through educational and interactive activities. Visitors will also be able to enjoy performances, shows and fashion that represent African-American culture.

Other African Culture Fest activities include:

- Soweto Street Beat Dance Theatre, this world-renowned group has performed at Disney World and for several presidents.

- Performances and demonstrations by local drum and dance groups such as the Afrikan American Drum & Dance Ensemble and Medasi Dance Theatre.

- An African village that recreates different kinds of dwellings from various cultures and features villagers doing traditional arts and crafts demonstrations.

- A bustling African marketplace selling clothing, jewelry, musical instruments and more.

- Also, an on-line quiz about African cultures is available on our web site and teaches basic information about Africa. Those who take the quiz are eligible for one of 10 prints from local artists at the New American Art Gallery II.

Don't forget to get your Passport! "Passports" will be available at each Culture Fest. At each event, visitors collect stamps at various stamping stations. Once the Passport is full, it can be exchanged for a prize at that event. All Passports will be put into a drawing for a one-year Explorer Family membership to be given away on Monday, April 30.

African Culture Fest runs from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, January 13, 14 and 15. All Culture Fests are open to the public, with the exception of activities that take place within the museums, which are subject to general museum admission. Parking is $4.50 per car.

Visit the museums during African Culture Fest for one affordable price! Admission to the Cincinnati History Museum, Duke Energy Children's Museum and the Museum of Natural History & Science is just $10, $7 for children, $9 for seniors. Parking is $4.50 per car. Admission to Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is not included in this package.

The 2006-2007 Passport to the World series includes Appalachian Culture Fest on February 17 and 18, 2007; Celtic Lands Culture Fest on March 10 and 11, 2007; and Asian Culture Fest on April 28 and 29, 2007. -- www.cincymuseum.org