Congo Square (OUTDOORS)
Congo Square is one of the most hallowed sites in American music history. This area, once a grassy commons behind the original city rampart (now Rampart Street), was one of several gathering places for enslaved people from Africa and their descendants. In the 1700s, under French and Spanish colonial rule, slaves were permitted to buy and sell goods on Sundays. They also played African-style musical instruments and performed dances that originated from their native homes. After New Orleans became part of the United States in the early 1800s, a city ordinance limited gatherings of slaves to this spot, and only until sunset. Still, the weekly ritual sustained a continuum of African culture in the New World, with profound implications for the future of music.
Upcoming Shows
8am-12:30pm | 25th anniversary of the New Orleans MAAFA Commemoration Community Remembrance Event! As we commemorate this moment, we reckon with the horrors of the Transatlantic and Domestic Slave Trades and give ourselves a release from the chains of its legacy.
This year’s event presented by Ashé Cultural Arts Center is on Saturday, July 5 at 8:00am, beginning at Congo Square (701 N Rampart St.)
This year’s theme, Homecoming: La Porte du Retour (The Door of Return), invites us to reflect, rejoice, and reunite. Come dressed in all white as a symbol of purity, remembrance, and spiritual renewal.
MAAFA identifies historically-significant locations of New Orleans’ own history as a major slave market, such as Esplanade Avenue and The Tomb of the Unknown Slave in Tremé. In closing, we say the names of those enslaved and free, victims of tragic events, senseless violence, as well as all those who were, so that we might be.
All white attire is preferred. The local community and visitors are invited to attend this commemoration event of healing, testimony, and celebration of our ancestors, existence, and survival.
*Please note, due to the extreme heat and humidity predicted this summer, the procession will leave Congo Square promptly at 9am instead of our customary 10am. If you arrive after 9am, catch us on the route!
More information at https://www.ashenola.org/events/maafa25-commemoration
