Measuring the social impact of the Africultures Festival

The challenge

With 30% of the Australian population born overseas, the integration of immigrants and refugees into society represents a pressing social issue in Australia. That’s 8.2 million people (ABS 2023) impacted by the cultural and political landscape in Australia – with any failures of integration leading to tension within communities; marginalisation; social divides; and, in extreme cases, social unrest. To improve awareness of Africans in Australia (and bridge the cultural gap) the Africultures Festival has been held annually in Sydney since 2009 – spreading understanding and knowledge of traditional African food, culture, music, dance and fashion.

With over 20,000 patrons there is a heightened need for organisers of the Africultures Festival to access competitive funding and report on festival goals/impact. However, limited resources due to the voluntary nature of the committee’s involvement have constrained the scope of such evaluations. This research aims to address that challenge.

Solution

The research team co-designed a multi-method study with the Somali Welfare and Cultural Association (SWCA), a primary sponsor and organiser of the Africultures festival. Focusing on the needs articulated by SWCA, the research team conducted a survey of Africultures stallholders and patrons to identify how the festival develops and strengthens a sense of community among African and non-African patrons. Additionally, the team conduct a series of workshops and webinars with stallholders; building their capabilities while creating a community in which the stallholders could share their experiences.

Outcome and impact

The results of this research will assist SWCA in the planning of future festivals and provide evidence to support their grant applications. Ultimately, the project aims to strengthen the sense of belonging amongst different community groups, improving integration and social well-being. The team aims to broadly disseminate the project results among other cultural events to increase connections between culturally diverse communities.

One third of people living in Australia are actually coming from overseas and these people come to Australia to build a new life. So the integration and settlement of these migrants and refugees is really important for the overall well being of the society in Australia. Community led organisations play an important bridge between government and the migrants and refugees. However, they don't receive the recognition that they should have.

Africulture is a platform for everybody. The people we see is the food lovers, food bloggers, people who love sports… Basketball was happening… music… Six hours of full entertainment. At the 2023 event, we counted 43 out of the 54 African countries present. So the goal is to have all the 54 countries represented.

So to study more about the role of community-led organisations, we’ve partnered with Somali Welfare and Culture Association, who organises the Africultures Festival. We looked at the social impact of the festival and what's the sense of community the festival is creating, such as understanding, empathy, connection between people coming from different cultures.

In Najmeh and Pavlina, we found researchers who could really articulate what Africulture was. It's just not that one festival, which is great, that brings people together, but there's a lot of community engagement, social empowerment and community cohesion.

One of the key insights is that sense of community is not created necessarily by assimilation or similarity. It's actually created by celebrating national diversity.

Najmeh and Pavlina put up the foundation for us. As we continue, we'd like to really focus on why Africulture happens and how we can support them so that they can grow into their own social enterprises and be empowered to make a living out of their art.