Sights, Sounds & Smells From Kuumba Festival’s Return to Chilhowee Park

I can’t think of many local festivals with more seniority than 37-years-young Kuumba Festival, aside from Dogwood Arts Festival (founded in 1961) and Knoxville Greek Fest (1977). Perhaps the Tennessee Valley Fair and the City’s Fourth of July celebration, if those count. Of course, such decisive historical proclamations make me nervous, so correct me in the comments if I’m wrong!

Over the decades Kuumba Festival has ebbed, flowed and morphed but its core mission has remained intact: using culturally specific arts programming and development to inspire social change within African and Indigenous American communities across greater East Tennessee.

This year’s festival, July 31-Aug. 2, began on Market Square on Friday then returned for the first time in about a decade to Chilhowee Park for the weekend. I stopped by Friday and was able to linger a long while on Saturday, taking in the outstanding performance lineup (and I mean, I was wowed by EVERY act) …

… perusing vendors …

… inhaling the food trucks …

… and soaking in the joyful vibe.

I found myself dancing, or at least vigorously bopping in place, next to Zakiyyah Modeste, a former Division I athlete turned performance artist and arts activist who emceed this year’s festival as Sister Zock. I pulled her aside to listen to her thoughts on the festival and its legacy.

Modeste described Kuumba as both a celebration of culture and a form of community activism. It creates space to learn about African cultures and acknowledge the Indigenous people and history connected to the land beneath the festival itself.

The festival’s youth programming, including the anti-violence initiative Drums Up, Guns Down, gives young people “a tool in their hands to express themselves,” she said, whether through dancing, drumming or singing. Kuumba Festival offers these performers and others a stage upon which to share their expressions with the community.

“If we’re not able to release what’s inside of ourselves, how do we experience worth and value, innovation and creativity?” she asked. Creativity is embedded in the festival’s name: kuumba is one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa and means creativity in Swahili.

Obayana Ajanaku, who founded Drums Up, Guns Down, has organized the festival since 2017, taking the reins from his mother Nkechi after she passed. Nkechi cofounded the festival and worked in its service for three decades. Relationships cultivated over Kuumba’s 37 years have sustained the festival through its many evolutions. “A lot of hands and a lot of eyes have been on this festival,” Modeste said, invoking the proverb “Many hands make light work.”

It was nice to see Chilhowee Park activated, and while I was there I took a walk around the now-open Midway.

What to do with this gated section of the park north of Magnolia was a big topic of conversation and debate last year, and it feels positive to see things moving forward in the direction that the community said it wants.

The city’s Capital Improvements Program includes $10 million for Chilhowee Park across five years, with $2 million allocated each year from FY2027 through FY2031 for for funding infrastructure improvements. A Chilhowee Park Advisory Group (CPAG) has been formed to inform its future and has been meeting monthly since May. Maybe I can sit in on a meeting here soon and catch us up on what’s taking shape.

Kuumba Festival: Website | Facebook