Celebrating African Heritage, Community Building & Mental Health Awareness

As we take a moment to reflect on the First Annual Motherland Experience African Festival, our hearts are filled with gratitude, joy, and appreciation.

What we experienced was more than just a festival. It was a celebration of our culture, our heritage, our businesses, our families, and the beautiful diversity of the African community and the people of Des Moines.

We want to sincerely thank our incredible founding sponsor and partner, OneVoice DSM, for believing in the vision and helping make this dream a reality. We are deeply grateful for every organization, business, volunteer, artist, performer, vendor, community leader, and individual who contributed their time, energy, resources, and love.

A special thank you to the City of Des Moines, and to Jody and her team, for helping us navigate the process and making everything run smoothly. Thank you to the Des Moines Police Department and Des Moines Fire Department for keeping our community safe. And to our media partners, Iowa Public Radio, WHO 13 News, We Are Iowa Local 5 News, and Current Situation Media, thank you for helping share our story.

Most importantly, thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated with us. Whether you traveled across town, brought your family, supported a vendor, danced, ate, laughed, learned, volunteered, or simply showed up — you made this festival what it was.

Our vision is to build the biggest African festival in the Midwest — one that celebrates our culture while creating opportunities, raising mental health awareness, strengthening community, supporting African and local businesses, attracting visitors, and contributing to the economic growth of Des Moines and Iowa as a whole.

But we cannot do it alone. To our future sponsors, partners, businesses, organizations, community leaders, families, friends, and supporters: we invite you to join us. When we come together as one family, one community, and one united force, there is no limit to what we can build.

Thank you for believing in the vision. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for standing with us. We'll see you next year!