Gambian Minister in London to promote Roots Festival

The Gambia's Minister of Tourism and Culture - Honourable Fatou Mas Jobe-Njie is hosting a reception to promote the 2014 Roots Festival on Monday October 7 2013 at 10am. The reception which takes place at Hilton London Metropole Hotel, 225 Edgware Road, London W2 1JU is free to attend.

The International Roots Festival which is in its eleventh edition, is scheduled between May 9-17, 2014 in The Gambia. The event is designed to provide visitors with an opportunity to explore the heritage of Diaspora Africans.

The late African-American historian, Alex Haley, discovered his "ROOTS" in the tiny Gambian village of Juffureh and wrote a best-selling book on his research. This book became a TV series known to millions as Roots. Also featured in the series was Kunta Kinteh Island (James Island) on the Gambia River. Now a World Heritage Site, the island bears remains of a Slave Fort where Africans were held captive before they were forcibly put into slave ships.

The 2014 programme includes excursions to historic sites and monuments, street carnivals, a Roots Pilgrimage to Kunte Kinte Island and Juffureh, dance, masks and masquerades, a traditional Boat Race, a symposium and a rites of passage ceremony.

Further information about the Roots Festival and tourism in The Gambia is available at www.rootsGambia.gm or  www.visitthegambia.gm