About BaoBao Festival

BaoBao Festival entertains, educates and builds community in Colorado through artistic performances and educational events inspired by West African tradition and culture. This multifaceted collaboration between local and international performing artists (including former members of the Ghana National Dance Ensemble, the Streetside Hip Hop Dance Troupe, and others) engages and entertains world culture fans of all ages. The festival, started by Boulder resident Adjei Abankwah, a lead dancer and choreographer with the Ghana National Dance Ensemble for 11 years, has been a perennial favorite among Boulder and Denver audiences.

Our Mission

Founded in 2004, the mission of BaoBao Festival is to entertain, educate and build community in Colorado through artistic performances inspired by West African tradition and culture.

History

In Ghana, people have gathered under the Baobao Tree to sing, dance, drum, and tell stories for as long as anyone can remember. This multi-generational experience has been a cornerstone of Ghanaian community.

BaoBao Festival in Colorado

During the first week of March each year, BaoBao Festival has performed and taught workshops in traditional West African drumming, dancing and storytelling in cities across Colorado. The BaoBao Festival brings together local, national, and international performers for a celebration of Africa’s age-old community theater experience of gathering under the baobab tree. The baobab tree, from which the festival derives its name, serves as a symbol of unity among many African communities. It is where the community gathers from time to time to measure its pulse and to set the agenda for development. It is also where the community gathers to celebrate life and its many opportunities. At such gatherings, music, dance, storytelling and enactment form an integral part.

The physical size and out reaching roots of the Baobao tree created a protected space for people to gather. Symbolically, the tree represented the continuity of wisdom and knowledge passed on from generation to generation.

The timing extends the celebration of Black History month and coincides with the Independence Day celebrations of Ghana, which is the first African nation south of the Sahara to gain independence from colonial rule. Ghana’s independence is celebrated by all Africans as the beginning of the march towards racial equality and the breaking down of all forms of discrimination, not only in Africa but all around the world. It is with the spirit of unity and equality that we celebrate BaoBao Festival each March in Colorado.