Sweetwater Center for the Arts is continuing an almost-30-year tradition of celebrating Black art and culture with the Mavuno Festival and Exhibition, and this year it will be bigger than ever.

Mavuno, which means “first fruit” in Swahili, is a celebration of BIPOC art, food, music and culture that aims to ampify voices and provide access to small businesses and artisans.

“It’s been a foundation of Sweetwater that we’ve been practicing for over 25 years now,” said Liana Agnew, director of artistic advancement at Sweetwater Center for the Arts. “We’ve been working with artists to celebrate Black artists, educators, showcasing artwork, accomplishments and achievements.”

Despite its reputation as a wealthy white suburb, Sewickley’s Black community has a rich and storied history. Mavuno will incorporate members of Sewickley’s Black community, as well as businesses and artists from around the Southwestern Pennsylvania region.

An opening reception for the accompanying exhibit at Sweetwater will be held on Sept. 26 from 5 to 8 p.m., and the festival itself will take place on Walnut Street between Duquesne Way and Thorn Street so that vendors and musicians can set up and festival goers can mill around. The festival will take place on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mavuno is also bringing back its beer garden for another year. The 2025 beer garden is organized by Cat Bruno of Babesburgh and will include four different businesses, including Dope Cider House and Winery, Sweet Brown Girl Adventures in Wine, TLC Libations and Windy Bridges Brew.

Thirsty attendees over the age of 21 can pay $20 for unlimited pours.

Sweetwater’s new mobile art unit, SweetRide, will also be on site to engage in hands-on art activities throughout the day.

“There’s stuff really for everybody and folks of all ages,” Agnew said.

There will also be musical performances, including Isaiah Smals and Ibeji Drum Circle. KiKi B. Jones from WAMO will act as emcee for this year’s festival.

“I’m excited. I’m glad to be a part of it this year,” Jones said.

She recently learned about Sweetwater and its many programs, and she became interested in participating in the longstanding tradition of the Mavuno Festival.

She added that the organizers “had her at ‘hello’” when she got in touch about participating. Of course, she’ll be on the mic during the course of the day, but Jones has other plans as well.

“I’m going to be spending some money. I’m going to be checking out some of the small business vendors and checking out the artists. I’ve been to festivals before, but this is different,” she said. “I’m going to be at every vendor booth, introducing myself, doing some social media, and just familiarizing myself with the people, the community and the businesses in that area.”

Some vendors will be participating for the first time, and some are veterans of the festival. Jamal Etienne-Harrigan of Uncle Jammy’s, a vendor that creates sauces and rubs, will be on site with chicken sandwiches, cornbread and macaroni and cheese at Mavuno.

“We’re just going to do things that feature the sauces, seasoning and hot sauces that we make,” he said.

This is Jammy and Co.’s first year at Mavuno, and Etienne-­Harrigan is looking forward to participating.

Tanya Wilson of Tanya Wilson Designs LLC will be at Mavuno selling her Secret Saks, which she’s been selling since 2014.

“They are different types of sacks for you to carry your personal items in that are made in really colorful fabrics,” she said.

Secret Saks come in a variety of sizes, from small ones meant to carry personal hygiene items to larger ones for swimwear and bottles of wine. Wilson said that they’re all lined for an extra layer of protection.

This will be her third year participating in the festival. “The people are nice, it’s a nice vibe,” she said.

Both Etienne-Harrigan and Wilson said that it’s important that Mavuno celebrates local Black art and business. “I think it’s increasingly important as times are shifting and it’s becoming increasingly relevant,” Etienne Harrigan said.

To learn more about the Mavuno festival, visit sweetwaterart center.org.

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