On the 25th of May the world celebrates the African Continent. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hungary wishes to commemorate this historic date by convening the Budapest Africa Forum and organizing numerous events starting from the 23rd of May until the 7th of June, focusing on African arts and culture.

The Budapest Africa Forum is aimed to draw attention on the African partners as well as the Hungarian non-state actors, and on the numerous opportunities within the development of political and commercial relations. János Martonyi the Foreign Minister made it clear in his speech that Hungary’s primarily aim is to deepen and widen the cooperation with Africa on many different levels.

The celebration took place in Vajdahunyad castle, which is a great tourist attraction in the City Park of Budapest close to Heroes’ Square. The selected venue was perfect to host the more than 200 guests, who came to celebrate Africa’s heroes and heroines by listening to traditional African music and enjoying the various culinary treats. Much to the delight of the visitors, each country had its own little booth where the local objects and traditional art pieces were exposed.

The pleasant experience was only overshadowed by the anxious jostling for food. But who can blame people, after all eating is our most basic instinct. Many African countries introduced their relish kitchen including Libya, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, and a few others.

We had the chance to talk to some of the organizers and representatives, who told us that Africa has come a long way in the last 50 years, and only by working in a unity, they can continue improving the lives of all Africans.

Today Africa is the continent of the future – a vast landscape of youthfulness, enterprise and resources on the verge of exercising its potential. In the last ten years, the countries of Africa have been experiencing fast economic growth, thanks to their large reserves of raw materials, energy resources and increasing political stability.

Happy 50th anniversary Africa!

Words and photos by Tímea Klincsek for XpatLoop.com