EarRelevant Staff | 17 JUL 2025
ATLANTA, Georgia— The Atlanta African Dance & Drum Festival, presented by the Afrikan Djeli Cultural Institute, returns for its 16th annual edition July 25–27, 2025, offering a vibrant celebration of African and African-diasporic arts at Tri Cities High School in East Point, Georgia, just south of Atlanta .
The three-day event will feature immersive workshops, live performances, an African-inspired marketplace, food vendors, and a closing concert. The festival bills itself as the Southeast’s premier conference for African dance and drum, drawing top instructors from across the nation.
The festival’s structure is designed to be intergenerational and community-centered, with offerings that cater to both seasoned performers and newcomers. Workshops span a wide range of traditions from the African diaspora, including West African djembe and sabar drumming, Haitian folkloric dance, and Afro-Cuban percussion and movement. Each session is led by artists who are both skilled performers and experienced educators, ensuring both cultural authenticity and accessibility.
Beyond the artistic instruction, the Atlanta African Dance & Drum Festival serves as a hub for cultural exchange and historical continuity. Many of the participating artists bring not only technical skill but deep connections to oral histories and traditional lineages. This contextual depth is often woven into the instruction, making the festival as much a cultural immersion as a physical training experience.
Artists leading workshops include Diadie Bathily, Kelly White, Moussa Traoré, Eric Gore, Egbe Sekere, Magatte Fall, Djeneba Sako, Imania Detry, and Senegalese sabar master N’Deye Gueye, whose credits range from performing for Senegal’s former President Abdou Diouf to choreographing award-winning pieces at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival.
The festival also foregrounds the role of women in African diasporic traditions. Several featured instructors—such as N’Deye Gueye and Imania Detry—lead classes rooted in forms historically dominated by male practitioners, helping to broaden participation and reshape cultural narratives within these art forms.
Founded in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta, the Afrikan Djeli Cultural Institute also offers ongoing instruction in African dance and drumming. Its founder, drummer and cultural educator Aiyetoro Kamau, studied under West African masters such as Mamady and Mahiri Keita, Weedie Braimah, Eric Gore, Harun Black, and Moussa Traoré.
Attendees will have access to a lively marketplace free to the public, featuring crafts, clothing, body-care products, instruments, and jewelry. Food vendors will provide regional African and diasporic cuisine throughout the festival.
The festival culminates with a finale concert—tickets priced at $35—showcasing dynamic companies, including Afriky Lolo West African Dance Company, who will perform the Goddess Zaouli.
Passes to the festival start at $85 for a single-day ticket, $150 for a complete drum/percussion/song package, and $245 for all-access. Individual classes are available for $20 each.
Although primarily centered around the Atlanta community, the festival draws participants from across the United States and abroad. Its continued growth over 16 years reflects a broader resurgence of interest in African cultural heritage, particularly among younger generations seeking a connection to ancestral traditions through embodied practice.
The Afrikan Djeli Cultural Institute, which organizes the event, has emphasized continuity and pedagogy as core values. Its year-round programming helps cultivate local talent and provides a foundation for the festival’s deeper educational aims, offering a rare continuity in a field often dominated by short-term intensives or touring acts.
The Atlanta African Dance & Drum Festival aims to promote and preserve African cultural traditions through participatory workshops, performances, and community engagement, continuing a tradition of cultural celebration and education in the region that spans more than a decade.
For more information, visit aaddf.org. ■
VIDEO:
Watch a brief news clip from the 2016 AADDF, posted to YouTube by WSB-TV, Atlanta.
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Atlanta African Dance & Drum Festival: aaddf.org
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