SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The Sacramento community and beyond gathered for the 15th annual Banana Festival at William Land Park on Aug. 15 and 16. This festival, hosted by the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum (SOJO Museum) is not actually about bananas itself, but about celebrating the cultures where bananas grow such as some African countries, some Latin American countries and the Caribbean. Thousands of guests showed up wearing yellow or banana-printed outfits to eat good food, listen to soul and reggae music and browse the cultural art pieces.

“It’s surprising how much you can do with bananas,” said Jameel McDaniels, who is the nephew of Shonna McDaniels, the executive director of the SOJO Museum.

McDaniels has worked at all 15 of the banana festivals since he was a kid. According to him, when the banana festival started in 2009, it was a much smaller scale event and took place at Cosumnes River College. 

“Barely anyone showed up,” he said.

Over the years, the event gradually garnered popularity, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that its popularity skyrocketed as people have been more eager to get out and prioritize in-person experiences than ever before. McDaniels was working at the banana store booth which had every conceivable type of banana merchandise from pet clothing to banana slices. The proceeds go to the SOJO Museum.

One of the ways that culture was brought to the festival was through the vendors. One of these was Tania Bolden of Beads-String-N-Bling. She makes brightly colored accessories such as bracelets and earrings as well as fans and umbrellas which are her most popular items. These items take inspiration from African colors, patterns and designs.

“The mission is to bring culture to Sacramento,” she said. “People love bright colors.”

In addition to cultural heritage, there were also some fun vendors such as Little Lady Crochets. Madily Amez, who started the business 8 years ago crochets animal plushies from tiny octopi to large dinosaurs. 

“It was a skill I learned from my grandma,” she said.

She also crocheted bananas each with a different facial expression specifically for this event. While her offerings at the festival were family-friendly, her business took off after she went viral for her more adult-themed designs. Since then, she’s been getting consistent orders from all over the country.

Another artist who brings their own unique style to their work is Nate Lawson from Nate’s Comic Art. He hand-draws superhero-inspired designs to put on items such as mousepads, T-shirts and coffee cup sleeves. 

“I’ve been drawing since I was fifteen,” Lawson said.

When his fiancée, Jonna Haan, showed him how to make prints of his art, he decided to make a business out of it. 

“His mother said he always had a pen in his hand and nothing was safe,” said Haan of Lawson as a kid.

His most popular items are the ones with Spiderman and the ones with Venom on it, regardless of which type of product it is. Those are also the drawings he is most proud of. Each drawing takes about three hours to complete.

Speaking of artists, the Banana Festival also had a live painting contest where artists would bring their own canvases and paints and use the two-day duration of the festival to create a painting which would be judged at the end. One of these artists, Jared Konopitski, was working on a painting he named on the spot called “Technicolor Banana Ride.” Konopitski, who makes neon, nature-inspired, magical realism paintings is a professional artist who has painted murals, had work showcased in galleries and magazines and has even worked on TV shows. 

“I make pictures from made-up stories,” he said.

“Technicolor Banana Ride,” which features a colorful hummingbird, was inspired when he was having breakfast the day before and a hummingbird flew past. There was also a banana in his line of sight and the vision for the painting came to him at that moment.

The Sacramento Banana Festival is about more than just fruit; it is a multicultural celebration that brings the community together while also raising money for a meaningful cause.