Sacramento Banana Festival provides crucial funds to capital Black history museum
Sacramento’s annual Banana Festival is back for its 14th year, and organizers need the community’s support now more than ever.
The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum hosts the yearly food and culture festival celebrating the starchy staple fruit grown throughout the tropics, with a collection of banana-themed art engagements, costume and eating contests and kids activities.
According to Shonna McDaniels, founder and executive director of the Sojourner Truth museum, hungry banana lovers can expect to find banana in every food vendor’s offerings, from grilled chicken smothered in banana sauce to fresh banana bread to tropical banana cocktails.
“(It’s) a celebration of history,” McDaniels said. “We’re celebrating the history of the banana and how it benefits our community holistically.”
The 2025 festival is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at William Land Park. Although this year is the 14th iteration of the Banana Festival, it is the 24th year the museum has hosted its fundraiser. According to McDaniels, the festival was originally a single-day event centering “art, community (and) youth,” but it was not successful in raising money for the nonprofit museum.
While brainstorming ways to better reach the wider community, McDaniels and the museum team found inspiration in long-running food festivals like the San Joaquin Asparagus Festival. She decided to go all-in on a banana event as a way to merge cultural education with the whimsy of food festivals.
“(It’s) a celebration of history,” McDaniels said. “We’re celebrating the history of the banana and how it benefits our community holistically.”
But the Banana Festival — and the museum as a whole — are at risk of shutting down due to financial struggles.
According to McDaniels, the Banana Festival is the museum’s biggest fundraiser of the year, but sponsorship money did not amount what she was hoping for this year. As a result, a portion of ticket sales may have to be used to keep the Sojourner Truth museum afloat rather than funding vital youth development programs, according to McDaniels.
If the festival’s turnout is poor, McDaniels said the museum might have to close by the end of the year.
“We’re hoping that people come out in droves, and maybe that will help us,” she said. “Maybe things will be different at the beginning of next year with funding resources.”
McDaniels founded the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum, at 2251 Florin Road, Suite 126, in 1996 as a Sacramento institution dedicated to “preserv(ing) Black history and celebrat(ing) the accomplishments of African American people and their legacy,” according to its website. It is named in honor of the famous human rights activist and abolitionist of the 19th century.
The museum’s collection of African and African American historical artifacts and artwork sheds light on parts of Black history that are less talked about, such as the history of Black cowboys and inventors, along with information on major historical periods like the transatlantic slave trade and the Harlem Renaissance.
Sacramento’s Black history is also represented, with The Dunlap Room featuring artifacts from the former Oak Park restaurant of the mid-20th century, owned by entrepreneur George T. Dunlap.
If the Sojourner Truth museum is forced to shut down, a host of youth engagement programs could also be lost. According to McDaniels, an existing youth museum docent program is already struggling in the wake of low funding, not able to take on new youth docents sitting on a long waitlist.
“People are so fascinated when they come and see youth ages 14-22 sharing all of the history in the museum, they’re just in awe,” McDaniels said. “Other youths, they’re just blown away, and it encourages them to want to be a youth docent ... but we just don’t have the budget to engage all of (them).”
The museum’s young entrepreneur programs, a youth workforce development training teaching vital workforce skills, and art and STEM community engagement projects are also facing closure, according to McDaniels.
McDaniels said the Sojourner Truth museum applied for about 15 grants this year to continue operating as an educational resource for the community, but the vast majority were denied, with the exception of two “very small” grants. Now, the museum relies on sponsorships and individual donations to stay open.
“After all these years, we are still not getting the sponsorship that we deserve,” McDaniels said.
In 2024, the Sojourner Truth museum also faced the possibility of shutting down due to low funds, The Bee previously reported. McDaniels and her team asked the community for help through a GoFundMe fundraiser, which had only gathered $7,000 of the $100,000 she was hoping for as of Wednesday.
In November, the Sierra Health Foundation helped continue the museum’s legacy with a $25,000 grant for “critical operations.” In a news release, the foundation’s CEO praised the museum for “’shin(ing) a light on the country’s historical and enduring wrongs, our shared progress and the legacy of those who have resisted, endured and thrived.’”
“’For our region to truly honor its diversity and stated commitment to building an inclusive future, it’s vital that we invest in our only museum focused exclusively on Black history and achievement,’” said Sierra Health Foundation president and CEO Chet P. Hewitt in the November release.
Tickets for the Sacramento Banana Festival can be purchased online ahead of the event or in person at the event gate. Day-of tickets for people aged 6 and up are $10 and children 5 and under may enter for free. According to McDaniels, the purchase of one ticket can fund supplies for about two youth in the region.
“That’s how important one ticket sale is,” she said. “Come out and help us celebrate our annual festival.”
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