Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute Celebrates Successful 8th Annual Afribembé: Under One Sun
The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) closed out Harlem Day on Sunday, August 16, 2026, with its 8th annual Afribembé festival. The Main Stage program ran from 7pm - 8-m drawing a solid crowd that, drizzle and all, wasn’t going anywhere.
This year’s festival marked a pivotal moment for CCCADI: its 50th Anniversary Year, and the continuation of the organization’s year-long AfriCarnaval theme honoring Carnival as a living practice of culture, joy, and resistance. Now in its third year presented in collaboration with Harlem Week, Afribembé: Under One Sun aligned perfectly with Harlem Week’s theme for the year: “Honoring Our Legacy”.
Afribembé: Under One Sun closed out the Harlem Day Main Stage with a procession led by Los Pleneros de la 21 and Danza Fiesta, followed by performances from Kofago Dance Ensemble and Pan Evolution Steel Orchestra. Viannca Velez served as host for the evening, reminding us that “This closing segment will root us in the absolute truth that as Black and Brown folks, it does not matter if we are from East Harlem with grandmothers from the Caribbean or from West Harlem with great grandmothers raised in the South’s Gullah Geechee; we are not separated by oceans, language, or lines on a map. Instead, we are brothers and sisters united under one sun.”
Host Viannca Velez
A light drizzle rolled through partway into the program and the crowd stuck it out with umbrellas up and energy undimmed, proof that a little New York summer weather was never going to compete with the energy of the drum. Festival goers also browsed CCCADI’s Oja Marketplace, won prizes through our Carnival & Harlem history trivia game and viewed a curated selection of archival materials from CCCADI’s Community Archiving Lab for Culture and Justice.
Just across the street, the Afribembé Children’s Village brought the festival to Harlem’s youngest residents at Howard Bennett Park. Kids enjoyed storytime with Malika Lee Whitney, face painting by Aleathia Brown, Carnival headpiece making, arts and crafts, and games for all ages.
The title Under One Sun draws on a phrase that has followed CCCADI throughout its history, a reminder that the African Diaspora is one community, connected across oceans and continents. It also honors the name of CCCADI’s official printed newsletter throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, and a historic series of Under One Sun summer concerts CCCADI presented in the late 1990s.
