AFRAM Festival celebrates black culture in Seaford

SEAFORD, Del. – The 26th annual Easter Shore AFRAM festival was in full swing Saturday in Seaford, with vendors, live music a pageant, and more all returning for the event that organizers say is crucial to the community.

“We have a lot of vendors, a lot of talent out here, local nonprofits, this is the second year we implemented a wellness walk and this year specifically, we highlighted sickle cell anemia, which predominantly affects the black and brown community,” said organizer Jalyn Powell.

Attendees could visit tents promoting everything from free checkups, and homemade jewelry to unique clothing items, EthniciTees owner Sean Montague says he started selling his designs 30 years ago looking to fill a gap of knowledge about black history and leaders.

“Each illustration is similar to woodcuts a hand-carved design out of linoleum blocks typically taken 3 to 8 weeks of creative time, and then on the back of the shirt, the pottery features that each shirt stands as a cultural wearable, a biography is told on the back that tells you the story,” he said.

Another vendor at the event, Black Star Revolution is even selling shirts and trips to Ghana using the money from sales to finance the trips.

“We’re connecting folks from a diaspora to Africa, Ghana, to be specific. We try to do at least one big tour every month. For instance, we have a tour coming October, November, and we are averaging between 30 to 40 people per trip,” said Owner Keli Ketor-Tay, adding that 20 percent of the profits also help support programming for black youth.

Organizers say it means a lot to them to turn ground that once was used to keep people in bondage, into a stage to put black joy, and success front and center.

“I want people that maybe don’t look like us to see the strength in community, to see what happens when we band together when we work together because this is just something at a festival that we celebrate,” said Jalyn Powell.