The Oromo Cultural Week is one of the great annual public events celebrated by Oromians and others. This event was initially initiated by the Oromo Youth in Edmonton organized as the Oromo Youth Association of Edmonton (OYAE) and first celebrated in August 2021. OCANA and OYAE collaboratively worked on the proclamation of this annual event in 2022. The City of Edmonton Mayor’s office officially proclaimed the Oromo Cultural Week since 2022 to be celebrated every year for one week in the summer season. Various honoured officials from the three levels of government including the City Mayor, Members of Parliament (MPs), Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), Leaders of the Edmonton Heritage Festival Association, Edmonton Heritage Council and other community leaders have been in attendance of this annual public event of African descents in Alberta, Canada. As an emerging immigrant and ethnocultural community, the process of applying and securing a spot was not smooth and easy, especially owning our independent Oromo/Oromia pavilion due to various reasons. After we committed to the groundwork and passed through the arduous walk of the application processes, we eventually succeeded in the year 2022 getting approval for our own Oromo/Oromian pavilion. The OCANA leadership teams have done their best with the Edmonton Heritage Festival (EHFA) teams to get acceptance for our own pavilion in the Edmonton Heritage Festival global village as an Oromo/Oromia. Our objective is to use the pavilion opportunity with the Edmonton Heritage Festival to present the Oromo nation’s heritage, history or roots, geography, natural resources, and culture to a broader audience and add colourful indigenous Oromo heritage herein to such a mini global village. In the Oromian pavilion, we present our heritage and unique and diverse cultural roots. Oromia/Oromo pavilion tents and stages indeed feature cultural food, entertainment (diverse cultural dances and shows), artwork, crafts, and clothing. We use the opportunity to teach visitors about our rich and diverse cultures using displays including photos, paraphernalia and stories. There are also informative displays that will teach the history and geography of Oromians and Oromia. These all have added precious value to the overall Heritage Festival event and have increased the colourful diversity of cultures in this annual world’s largest event, as Canada is a multicultural country.

Different activities are taking place during this event including cultural night with cultural entertainment and cultural foods, youth and adult soccer, outdoor BBQ, interfaith dialogue, empowerment workshops, and related activities.