This month marks the celebration of the ninth annual Black Culture Festival in honor of Black Culture Day, Aug. 31.

First up in San José is “A Night to Remember,” an event featuring dinner and dancing as well as a fashion show and a performance by international singer and showman Gillo from Barbados. Sponsored by Black Women in Action and Limón Roots magazine,  the event will take place Saturday at  7 p.m. at the Hotel Corobicí in Sabana Norte, on the west side of San José.

Activities are scheduled across the country, from the northwestern province of Guanacaste to San José to the Caribbean slope. Most of the festival's events, however, will take place in the Caribbean port city of Limón. The festival really gets going around Aug. 21 and culminates with a gala parade through the streets of Limón Aug. 31. Other highlights include the crowning of “Lady Black Beauty” Aug. 25 in Limón and a number of shows and concerts, including performances by Trinidadian calypso king Mighty Sparrow in San José Aug. 28 and in Limón Aug. 31, after the parade.

Marcelle Taylor, coordinator for the Black Ethnic Civic Committee of Limón, said the city is “the capital of culture in Costa Rica,” and the heart of the country's African roots.

Ramiro Crawford, festival organizer and editor of Limón Roots magazine, said the festival is a time for reflecting on what is being celebrated, including the things that make Afro-Costa Rican culture unique, how far blacks have come through a history of hardship and things that still need to be accomplished.

Founded in 1922, Limón's Liberty Hall (the Black Star Line building), where Mighty Sparrow will be playing, has been a spot of black cultural preservation, pride and awareness ever since. Several festival events are set to take place here.

For a full schedule of events, see the Calendar pages. For information, call 253-2912 or 383-5491, e-mail limonroots@yahoo.com or visit www.limonroots.net.