12/08/2025
Habari gani?! (What’s the news?!)
It's the 2025 Kwanzaa Kick-off at City Hall in Philadelphia, PA!
Mayor’s Reception Room 202
Friday, December 26th, 10 am EST
(Sign in at the NE Corner Visitor’s Entrance)
Creative Philadelphia, in partnership with the Kwanzaa Cooperative, kicks off the weeklong Kwanzaa holiday with a vibrant unity celebration at City Hall. The event will include remarks from City officials, singing, performances from the Tyehimba African Drum and Dance Ensemble, and the ceremonial lighting of the Umoja (Unity) candle, the first of seven candles and principles of the Kwanzaa kinara. As a Pan-African and African American holiday expressed in Swahili, one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa, the holiday brings families and communities together to honor ancestors and celebrate the values, history, community, and culture of the African diaspora.
The Nguzo Saba or seven principles of Kwanzaa are Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith).
This year, the opening event and ceremony will take place indoors in the Mayor’s Reception Room 202. After the event and for the duration of the holiday, the large City Hall Kwanzaa kinara will be on the south side of City Hall, facing South Broad St., near the statue of civil rights activist Octavius Catto. Each day, a new candle will be lit to reflect one of the seven principles.
Kwanzaa 57th Anniversary Celebration
