SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a two-year hiatus, the Sacramento Banana Festival is back this weekend!
This year's theme is "Banana international" and with over 150 retail, artisan, and craft vendors and over 50 multicultural food vendors, the options are endless.
With the tastes and flavors of food ranging from banana pudding, banana bread, banana mango chips and guacamole, banana street tacos to banana lumpia, banana chicken sausage kabobs, banana empanadas, and even banana nachos, there's at least something worth a try!
There will be live performances by jazz, reggae, Caribbean, and Latin musicians, multicultural dance performances, a banana parade, banana and banana pie eating contests, and even a V.I.B. (Very Important Banana) lounge.
Not only does this event celebrate the diverse cultures of Asia, Africa, and North and South America represented within Sacramento, it also celebrates and highlights how one fruit can bring many cultures together.
Bananas are one of the most important food crops in the world and are a healthy source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and various antioxidants and nutrients and are grown all over the world, mainly in South and Central America, China, Africa, and India.
Although bananas aren't typically grown in California, they are still well incorporated into our everyday diet.
"In a lot of our cultures, everyone has a banana dish that really brings them together when it comes time to eat and spend time with family," said Marquis Marcilous, co-founder of The Night Market Series. "It's also a really good representation of cultures around the world where the bananas grow."
Local vendors, many of who created their craft during COVID-19, and many of who COVID-19 deeply affected their craft, now have a chance to get back outside and showcase their gifts and talents.
All proceeds from this year's banana festival to go the National Academic Youth Corp, which helps support youth programs in the Sacramento area at the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum.
"To see people coming here, setting up their businesses and thriving is a beautiful thing," said Marcilous. "Although everything was virtual at the time, we found ways to connect with each other virtually so it's just really nice to be back at a festival this large with so many people with the same intentions to be back with the community."
Sacramento's 11th Annual Banana Festival will take place at William Land Park Saturday, August 20 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10: 11th Annual Banana Festival in Sacramento | It's going to be an a-peeling time!