It was 1995 when Black History Month was officially recognized in Canada, followed by a motion introduced by the Honourable Jean Augustine. That inspired the Harbourfront Centre to be part of the Black History Month celebrations, leading to the birth of the KUUMBA Festival.
The festival’s lead producer, Diana Webley, gave credit to Sandra Whiting, who is the founder and first programmer who brought KUUMBA to life. The purpose of KUUMBA was to bring a sense of reunion and Harbourfront Centre continues to be the one welcoming gathering place for the community to enjoy food, music, dance, visual arts and theatre. Webley is happy to say that legacy lives on today.
The first iteration of KUUMBA started small because of the budget but was a success. Whiting did a lot of outreach and grassroots work and brought together dance companies, spoken word artists and jazz artists. Vendors were also there to share their wares and encourage attendees to purchase their crafts. The success of the first KUUMBA led to the festival growing rapidly because it was a good time and shows Black culture can be celebrated in one space.
KUUMBA is a month-long festival that begins on February 1 and concludes on February 28, meaning there’s a plethora of multi-disciplinary activities to enjoy all throughout. Being the largest and longest-running Black History Month event, there are music concerts to look forward to. One of them, which will take place on February 6, which would’ve been Bob Marley’s 80th birthday, is a tribute to the late singer and his impactful legacy through various genres like jazz, soul and reggae to a remix of his classics. This year’s KUUMBA event will also give JUNO-winning singers Jay Douglas and Liberty Silver and their flowers and celebrate the new generation with JUNO-winner Kairo McLean, who Webley describes all three as amazing singers in their own right.
Dancing performances will also take place with Silent Legacy, a crump and contemporary duet, who will perform in the Harbourfront’s Fleck Dance Theatre. The choreographer of this dance duet, Maud Le Pladec, also did the choreography for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Their breakdancing competition is also another dance performance to look forward to. Known as the Rock Harder event, the high-stake dance competition attracts the top breakers from across the globe who will compete in preliminaries before the final competition, where there will be celebrity judges coming from Vancouver, Montreal, Hawaii, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
Nicole Brooks, an award-winning playwright who produced Obeah Opera, will be there in attendance to do a play reading on her new play, The Eighth Night. The plot of this new production centres around 1928 Black Montreal and an unconventional hidden Speakeasy called Lelu’s Cave. Following the reading of an excerpt from her new play, the audience can partake in a Q&A.
There will be various panel discussions part of The Journey to Black Liberation Symposium that touch on mental health, body positivity, a perspective on mixed race Black people and the refugee experience as a Black person.
Workshops will also take place, allowing attendees to express themselves freely, whether it is through voguing or breakdancing.
No matter the intersection, an attendee is introduced to KUUMBA though, they will take with them something resonating that provides some type of inspiration. The hope is that attendees will be captivated by something that allows them to return. Webley shares how KUUMBA does a great job of discussing so many diverse topics and exposing the culture to different lengths through dance, music and theatre. She hopes folks are inspired by what they see and would love for the next generation to see what’s going on and get involved.
As the lead producer, Webley says representing all the cultures Toronto has can be challenging. However, seeing KUUMBA evolve, especially during the digital age, is fantastic. The partnerships have led to outreach from more communities. In terms of KUUMBA’s growth over the years, Webley says they still have their ear to the ground and says the programming that is curating reflects what’s happening in Toronto today. For their upcoming 30th anniversary, they are blowing out their community partners and hoping they can welcome more in the future.
“I would hope that KUUMBA lives on,” said Webley. She hopes KUUMBA inspires the young people of today to dream bigger, understand what they set out in life is possible, and seek mentorship from the programming they have.
