Organizers make pitch to Dougherty commissioners for festival funding

ALBANY – The organizers of a proposed African heritage festival are seeking backing from the city of Albany and Dougherty County as they plan the first of what they say will be annual event scheduled to kick off in the fall.

On Tuesday, Albany businessman Omar Salaam and his daughter, Daaiyah Salaam, gave an update to the Dougherty County Commission for the Albany African Cultural Heritage Festival planned for Sept. 18-20 at Riverfront Park.

For the first year, the Salaams are requesting $32,500 each from the city and county to help launch the festival, with that sum decreasing each year through the third year, after they hope it will be self-supporting. The organizers told commissioners that the plans include food, music and a fashion show, as well as a kid’s parade and other attractions.

“We really want this to be a community-oriented, family-oriented event,” Daaiyah Salaam, who addressed commissioners via telephone, said.

An eight-member committee has been established, and the organizers have requested that the Dougherty County School System get involved. In addition, area youngsters have been asked to take part in the festival.

“We are asking our youth what they want to see,” Daaiyah Salaam said. “They have also volunteered to be a part of the committee and for the festival itself. We have a ‘Welcome to Wakanda’ theme. We’re working with the school system to have an art competition around that. These are the things we have taken from the survey of our youth.”

Another suggestion from the young people was to expand the impact beyond the three days of the event.

“They’re giving us ideas as to how to help the community in addition to just having a festival.” Daaiyah Salaam said. “We are also doing a clothing drive. At the end of the fashion show, we will have clothing to donate to Goodwill” and other organizations. 

While the event will focus on African heritage, Commissioner Victor Edwards said that he wants everyone to be included. 

“That was my biggest concern,” he said. “Because we have so many groups in our community.”

Another concern raised by Commissioner Gloria Gaines was how to ensure the legality of using taxpayer funding for the event.

“How do we handle these requests?” she said. “We’ve had people come before us. I think we need to put some order to it once and for all (when) we get approached.”

Commission Chairman Lorenzo Heard asked County Attorney Alex Shalishali to examine the issue and return a recommendation to the commission.

The Albany City Commission has not acted on the request for funding for the festival, but it could be included in the city’s 2026-2027 budget, City Commissioner Jon Howard said.

Omar Salaam was involved in a similar festival that was held some 20 years ago that was well-attended, Howard said.