About Ankara Festival

Promoting African cultural excellence.

Our Story

Since 2010

Ankara Festival Los Angeles was created in 2010 to increase the visibility of African culture through fashion, arts, music, dance and food. The goal is to showcase modern African design in African print — established African and African-inspired designers alongside up-and-coming names looking for a venue to show what they can do, and to develop their entrepreneurial ambition in the international fashion arena.

The festival serves as a platform where established industry professionals and aspiring newcomers show their work side by side, and network with industry peers and the public.

This African fashion festival is a celebration of a continent with an immense wealth of talent, held every Labor Day weekend — this year, September 4–6, 2026, in Los Angeles.

Ankara Festival draws fashion followers, music lovers, buyers, bloggers, lovers of African culture and press — all of which plays a key role in developing business for local African designers. The Ankara Festival Organization contributes to a sense of civic pride about what modern African fashion and music offer the rest of the world, and how they continue to evolve. You're invited to become an active participant by supporting our style makers during the festival and throughout the year.

AFLA gives 5% of total ticket sales at the venue to benefit a non-profit organization dedicated to health issues, poverty alleviation, disease eradication, education, and research into causes, treatment and cures.

Founder

Peter Lentini

Founder & Creative Director

Peter Lentini is the Founder and Creative Director of the biggest African cultural festival in the United States. He created Ankara Festival Los Angeles in 2010 with the intention of building a social landscape for cultural pride in the U.S., increasing the visibility of African culture, and fostering entrepreneurship through fashion, arts, music, dance and food. He began the initiative while managing Naija Entertainment, a company he launched in 2004 that has been a staple of the entertainment scene in the California Bay Area, Los Angeles and across the nation for over 15 years — providing African entertainment, event production, and music concerts featuring world-renowned African artists.

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, he entered the entertainment industry young as an event promoter, organizing street carnivals and concerts. As a boy he balanced his studies with supporting his siblings, raised by a single mother, peddling water and snacks in the busy streets of Lagos. He moved to the U.S. in 2000 and built his own success through hard work and determination. Committed to being a positive influence on everyone he meets, he has been a mentor to a diverse group of young people hoping to follow in his footsteps — never forgetting his humble beginnings.

Our Team