A small group of walkers that will undoubtedly grow into large crowds by the end of the week — the Windsor International Diaspora African Festival, or WIDAFEST, is now underway
“Basically what we’re all about is the African culture. Food, music, festival, dance. Understanding the history and the culture. We want people to come down, see exactly what it’s all about,” said Christopher Alexander, president of Zalent Creatives
WIDAFEST is taking festival goers on an adventure with various events scheduled throughout the week
“Very excited to be here and to have everyone participate,” Alexander said
The official opening ceremony is next Friday at the Festival Plaza followed by a drum festival. There will also be a couple of concerts both Friday and Saturday. The festival will become Windsor’s first carbon zero festival
Queen Amina is the founder of the festival and has always looked for a way to affect Mother Earth in a positive way
“I come from a very hot country and if it gets any hotter I don’t know what will happen to the people there,” Amina said
The festival has teamed up with the city to offer and event with no plastic
“All our vendors are not using any disposable plates that is plastic,” said Amina
Anne Marie Albidone, city manager of environmental services adds, “all the food vendors will be serving everything, all the food and all the drinks in either a compostable dinner ware of recyclable.”
The solid waste authority will take the recycling while Davidson Environmental collects organics to turn into compost
“We are hopefully going to have zero waste so that’s the goal. There’s always little hiccups along the way so certainly we’re looking to learn some more lessons this time with a much bigger event,” Albidone said
The city is hoping to get other festivals to follow suit one day
“All those things are going to be lessons,” Albidone said. “We’re hoping to then have a package to be able to give to event organizers and say it’s that easy. Here’s the steps to do. We can make your event zero waste.”
