About Ankara Festival

Our Story

Ankara Festival Los Angeles was created in 2010 with the aim to increase the visibility of African culture through fashion, arts, music, dance and food. The goal is to showcase modern African designs in African print (Ankara), established African and African inspired designers, up and coming designers, who want a venue to showcase what they can do, and also develop their entrepreneurial ambition in the international fashion arena.

Ankara Festival in Los Angeles will also serve as a platform for both established industry professionals and aspiring newcomers to showcase their work side by side as well as network with industry peers and the public.

This African Fashion Festival is a celebration of a continent that has an immense wealth of talents and is scheduled to take place on Labor Day weekend, September 1st – 3rd 2017.

The Ankara Festival in Los Angeles will attract a huge audience of; fashion followers, Music Lovers, buyers, bloggers, lovers of the African culture and tons of media people – and this will play a key role in developing business for local African designers. It will also boast an exhibition space for other designers that will be introduced. The Ankara Festival Organization will contribute to a sense of civic pride about what modern African Fashion and Music has to offer the rest of the world and how it continues to evolve. You’re invited to become an active participant in the show by supporting our style makers during Ankara Festival Los Angeles and throughout the rest of the year.

AFLA will give 5% of the total tickets sales at the venue of the event to benefit – A non-profit organization that is dedicated to health issues, poverty alleviation disease eradication, education and research about causes, treatment, and the search for a cure.

Peter Lentini

Founder and Creative Director

Peter Lentini is the Founder and Creative Director of the biggest African cultural festival in the United States. The Ankara Festival Los Angeles (AFLA), created in 2010 with the intention to create a social landscape for cultural pride in the U.S., increase the visibility of African culture and foster 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 in the entertainment scene in California Bay Area, Los Angeles, and across the nation for over 15 years providing creative African Entertainment, event production, producing music concerts featuring world-renowned African artists.

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Peter Lentini got in the entertainment industry from a young age as an event promoter, organizing street carnivals and concerts. As a little boy, he struggled as he balanced focusing on his studies and supporting his siblings raised by a single mother by peddling in the busy streets of Lagos selling water and snacks. As such, he has become the epitome of the American Dream since his move to the US in 2000 as an immigrant creating his own success through hard work and determination. With his commitment to be a positive social impact to everyone he encounters, Peter Lentini has been an inspiration and a mentor to a diverse youth group hoping to follow in his footsteps as he accomplishes various achievements never forgetting his humble beginnings.