Chatham Community Library to Host Family Cultural Festival

Source: Tom Grill / Getty

Chatham Community Library is excited to present a Family Cultural Festival on Saturday, January 25, 2025, featuring a musical performance by Diali Cissokho. This free, family-friendly program is open to the public, and no registration is required.

WHAT: Meet community members from around the world and learn about their cultures. At 3:00 p.m., enjoy a performance by Diali Cissokho on the kora, a traditional West African string instrument.

WHEN: Saturday, January 25, 2025 – 2:00-4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Chatham Community Library

Holmes Family Meeting Room

197 NC 87 N

Pittsboro, NC 27312

WHO: Community members from Costa Rica, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Dominican Republic, Pakistan, Colombia, Argentina, Panama, and Italy will share information, food, clothing, crafts, and other culturally significant items from their countries.

Diali Cissokho is a Pittsboro-based musician and a renowned kora player and percussionist from Senegal. Cissokho moved to the US after years of performing and teaching in Senegal and in Europe. Born into a rich ancestry of Manding griots (the musician caste), Cissokho has been playing traditional West African music for as long as he can remember. While his greatest love is the kora, a 21-stringed African harp that is at the heart and soul of much West African music, he is also a passionate singer, songwriter, and percussionist. Crossing cultural boundaries with a wide range of sounds, from explosive dance rhythms to soothing hypnotic grooves, Cissokho brings an unparalleled virtuosity and unique personal style to this respected traditional art form.

Cissokho’s mother, MoussuKeba Diebate, and father, Ibrahima Cissokho, both hailed from long lines of griot musicians. Historically, each village had its own griot who told tales of births, deaths, marriages, battles, hunts, affairs, and other important events and celebrations. In Mande society the griot, or jeli, served as a historian, advisor, praise singer, and storyteller. These musicians served as walking history books, preserving and sharing the stories and traditions of their culture through song. This inherited tradition, with deep connections to spiritual, social, and political powers, has been passed down through generations.

Funding for this program is made possible with the generous support of the Friends of the Chatham Community Library. The event is hosted by the Chatham Community Library Teen Advisory Board.

Residents may also visit the libraries’ website www.chathamlibraries.org, or contact the Library at (919) 545-8084 or youth.services@chathamlibraries.org for more information on this and other events and programs.