Africa Day at the Museum
In collaboration with Prof Erinma Bell MBE – Carisma Services
Immerse yourself in the energy, richness and vibrancy of African culture when Manchester Museum celebrates Africa Day.
Global celebrations for Africa Day take place on 25 May but we’re hosting two days of festivities across the weekend.
Experience African music, dance, fashion and food, while learning about Africa’s story through talks, workshops and opportunities to engage with the Museum’s African collections.
The first day, organised in collaboration with Prof Erinma Bell MBE and Carisma Services, will feature crafts, performances and African food tastings. You can find the full programme below.
The second day will include dance and creative workshops in collaboration with Afrocats and you can find full details here.
Programme for Saturday 24 May
Main Hall
10.15am Flash drumming performance
10.30am Flash drumming performance
11am Speeches and welcome
11.30am Performance from Magic Carpet of Sudan and drumming from Pambalipe Arts
Join students from the Sudanese Supplementary School in Manchester as they lead you through the rich heritage and culture of Sudan. Through traditional dances and songs, they will take you to every corner of Sudan – from the north to the east, to the west and south.
Godfrey Pambalipe is a multidisciplinary artist who specialises in African storytelling through dance, drumming and song. He collaborates with international artists to deliver performances and creative workshops that promote cultural exchange and inclusion. Godfrey and drummers Karim Abdou Mbaye and Owen Ncube will showcase rhythms from Guinea and Zimbabwe, in a series of drumming performances across the museum.
3pm Performances from WAST Nightingale Choir and Pambalipe Arts
Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) is a network of women who are experiencing the UK’s hostile immigration system. WAST Nightingale Choir composed their songs from different nationalities. They sing to raise awareness of the difficulties women seeking asylum are facing in the asylum journey.
Living Worlds
10.30am-4pm Mancala Games
Mancala is a game for two players. The objective is usually to capture all or some set of the opponent’s pieces. It is thought to date back to the 3rd Century and evidence suggests such games existed in Ancient Egypt.
10.30am-4pm Flags of Africa
There are more than 50 countries in Africa. How many African flags can you recognise?
1-3pm 7th International Peace-Loving Art Competition
The International Women’s Peace Group invites young people aged 7-14 to take part in the Peace-Loving Art Competition. Draw it. Paint it. Imagine it. Let your creativity bloom and help spread the message of peace through art.
Research Studio
10.30am-4pm Exploring African Collections
Meet some of your Museum’s curators, view and learn about African materials not currently on display. These include butterflies from Kenya, plants and cultural items from Sierra Leone and artefacts from Egypt. These include butterflies from Kenya, plants and cultural items from Sierra Leone, artefacts from Egypt and Sudan.
Top Floor Classroom
10.30-11.30am Life of Africa Drumming Workshop (booking required)
Godfrey Pambalipe is a multi-disciplinary artist specialising in African storytelling through dance, drumming and singing. This interactive workshop invites the audience to explore life in an African village. You will take part in drumming, singing and storytelling, creating a shared experience that celebrates connection, culture, and creativity.
1.30-2.30pm Life of Africa Drumming Workshop (booking required)
Top Floor
12-4pm Ethiopian Coffee Workshop
Experience the rich cultural tradition of Ethiopia through the art of its Coffee Ceremony. This immersive workshop will demonstrate the process of preparing traditional Ethiopian coffee — a beautiful ritual symbolizing hospitality, respect, and community. Watch and learn the different stages of the ceremony — from roasting the green coffee beans, inhaling their rich aroma, to grinding, brewing, and serving the coffee. Feel, touch, and smell the coffee beans as they transform during the process.
Participants will be invited to taste and enjoy a cup of freshly brewed Ethiopian coffee while learning about the cultural significance behind each step of the ceremony. Leaflets will be available to take away, sharing insights into Ethiopian coffee heritage and its role in bringing people together. This is more than just drinking coffee — it’s about connecting, sharing stories, and celebrating the warmth of African hospitality.
1-4pm Wrapper and Gele
Explore the traditional art of tying Gele (headwrap) and wrapping fabric in various styles. You’ll learn techniques used in different African cultures, gain hands-on experience in styling, and understand the cultural significance of the attire. You’ll have the opportunity to try out the wrapping techniques and take away practical knowledge you can apply in your own styling.
1-4pm Griot Space
Using the provocation of three items: a moth, a piece of sugar cane and a piece of cotton fabric – drop-in audiences will be invited to imagine how these three items could be linked to tell an interesting story. The activity will be conversational but there will be the option for people to write or draw if they prefer.
2-2.45pm You-Me Doll Workshop: Celebrating Identity and Empowerment (sign up on the day)
The You-Me Doll Workshop is more than just crafting—it is storytelling, identity, and self-affirmation. Rooted in African traditions of handmade dolls, this workshop celebrates the diversity of women and girls across the African diaspora.
In many African cultures, dolls are more than toys; they represent heritage, strength, and the beauty of individuality. Just like the stories of our grandmothers and mothers, these dolls carry the essence of who we are. They are tall, short, curvy, slim, dark, light, vibrant, and bold—just like us. A doll without a face symbolizes the power of self-definition. It removes imposed beauty standards and instead allows the maker to see themselves through their own eyes, not through the gaze of the world. Through this process, we break free from body shaming and external pressures, embracing self-love and confidence.
On Africa Day, as we celebrate unity, culture, and identity, this workshop serves as a reminder that beauty is not one-size-fits-all. It is found in every woman and girl who dares to define herself on her own terms. Through crafting, we enter a space of healing and self-discovery, reinforcing mental well-being and cultural pride. Join us in honouring our African heritage by creating a doll that reflects you, your story, and your strength.
3-3.45pm You-Me Doll Workshop: Celebrating Identity and Empowerment (sign up on the day)
Basement Education Suite
12-1pm Batik Making Workshop (booking required)
Join artist Tina Ramos Ekongo to look at African prints and their relationship with different African communities. You’ll be able to create your own African batik patterns too, and imprint them onto a piece of fabric, creating a unique design inspired by traditional African prints around the continent.
2-3pm Batik Making Workshop (booking required)
Kanaris Theatre
1-2pm Chocolate Has a Name (booking required)
An interactive storytelling session bringing children to immerse themselves into the origins of their favourite treat; chocolate. Tracing it from the cultivator right down to the consumer.
3-4pm Chocolate Has a Name (booking required)
About Africa Day
Africa Day is an annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), today known as the African Union, on 25 May 1963.
For Africans on the continent and in the diaspora, Africa Day signifies unity, pride in being African, and an opportunity to celebrate their heritage by donning traditional outfits and putting on vibrant displays of culture and diversity.
Significantly, Manchester is a very important city for Africans because it hosted the Pan African Congress at Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall in 1945, intended to address the decolonisation of Africa from Western imperial powers. The congress demanded an end to colonial rule and racial discrimination as well as the recognition of human rights and equality of economic opportunity for all peoples of African heritage.
Manchester Museum contains cultural heritage objects from different African countries in its collection and we aim at making their stories visible by collaborating with African diasporans going forward.