LEWISTON – Preparations for this year’s Somali Independence Day festivities will get under way about 6 a.m. Saturday morning.

That’s when volunteers will gather at the Multi-Purpose Center to start cooking the food for this evening’s feast.

“They start, really mixing the spices and getting everything ready to cook,” said Dekha Abdi, one of the volunteers cooking for the festival.

The menu includes Somalian rice, goat, chicken and sambusa – spiced ground beef and onions wrapped in bread and deep-fried.

It’s the third year the African Immigrants Association has hosted a dinner to celebrate their culture. There will be food, music, dancing and African goods for sale.

Before 1960, Somali was two separate colonies, the north governed by the British and the south by Italy. Northern Somalia was granted its independence on June 26. The southern portion gained its independence days later, on July 1, and they joined together.

In Somalia, the celebrations are similar to Independence Day in the U.S.

“It’s a huge, huge day for everyone,” Abdi said. “They have food, fireworks, parades and lots of songs about how everyone struggled under the colonists.”

The day’s proximity to July 4 celebrations convinced local Somalis to begin marking the day locally. They created the celebration to show off their culture to the Twin Cities and to honor the Independence Day of their new country.

This year’s festival includes information about cultures from across the African continent, from the Sudan and Ethiopia to Somalia and Togo.

The event is free, but the organizers are requesting donations of $2 per person to help pay for food and other costs.

It will take place from 5:30 to 11 p.m. today at the Multi-Purpose Center. Food will be served between 6:15 and 7 p.m. with music, dance and performances scheduled throughout the evening.

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