Two Women Put On The UK’s First Ever Black Girl Festival And People Absolutely Loved It

This is 23-year-old Paula Akpan and 26-year-old Nicole Krystal, who are both from London. In March, the two friends decided to do something that’s never been done before and put on the UK’s first ever Black Girl Festival.

Before you even got through the doors of the Black Girl Festival in Shoreditch on Sunday, you’d have seen a queue as long as if your favourite superstar was performing, and one packed with black women of all ages, complexions, and from all walks of life.

Inside the venue was a maze of market stalls run by black entrepreneurs, with music from stars like singer SZA, to panels and workshops on motherhood, education, mental health, and self-care.

Akpan and Krystal, who both hail from creative backgrounds, felt there was a real thirst for an event like this. Speaking to BuzzFeed News, Krystal said: “I saw Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Angela Davis talk at Southbank earlier this year and the vibe was amazing; there were so many black women around. I knew I wanted to recreate that.”

Akpan, who is also co-founder of “The I Am Tired Project”, said the festival was something she would have wanted when she was growing up. “While brainstorming about the festival, we asked ourselves: ‘What would we have like to have seen when we were younger?’ and ‘What kind of conversations would we like to be witnessing or be a part of?'”

Akpan said it was also important for there to be a panel speaking to different gender expressions as well as queerness and the black community. “I am a queer, black woman and I’d have loved to have seen a workshop like what we had at the festival, exploring gender, and what it is to like someone who is the same gender as you things like that – that would have been a comfort. For us to offer that to other people, that’s just really special.”

The festival was made possible thanks to a successful crowdfund which raised £7,718 in 35 days. “It’s affirming that so many people have poured their money into our idea,” Akpan said.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” added Krystal, the founder and curator of “Unmasked Women”. “Because the black British identity has only been reinforced in our generation, in that we are now talking about our experiences.

“When we talk about the black experience, it’s so easy to talk about the black American experience. I’ve lived in this country for 26 years and my parents have lived here longer as well. [This was] an important focus on the UK, focus on the microaggressions, focus on racism, focus on the celebrations, all the gloriousness that we black women are creating in this country.”

BuzzFeed News spoke to women who attended the festival on Sunday to find out why they…

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