{"id":351929,"date":"2026-06-08T18:58:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/351929\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:58:14","slug":"photos-bright-colors-feathers-music-and-joy-at-oakland-carnival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/351929\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Bright colors, feathers, music and joy at Oakland Carnival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carnival, the multicultural festival<\/a> rooted in syncretic forms of art and expression, observed around the world<\/a>, with the biggest parties and parades in the Caribbean and Brazil, was celebrated in Oakland on Saturday with music, dance, costumes, food, and a health and wellness component.<\/p>\n

The newly renovated Mosswood Park came alive for the 11th annual festival that\u2019s sponsored by the city and several major foundations, and organized by Samba Funk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Theo Aytchan Williams, the festival\u2019s operations director, recently told the San Francisco Bayview Newspaper<\/a> why he thinks it\u2019s important for Oakland to host its own carnival: \u201cOakland has its own voice and its own message. Oakland has a very unique and distinct history, flavor and swag.\u201d The message of health and wellness resources incorporated in Oakland\u2019s festival are key, he said. \u201cFor us, Wellness is a revolutionary act. We are reclaiming public space to advocate for Community Wellness, Wellness for Black People and supportive allies are welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Damari Lawrence leads the Samba Funk drum line at the Oakland Carnival on June 6, 2026, in Mosswood Park. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Xplosion Mas members dance at the Oakland Carnival on June 6, 2026. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Samba Funk members perform at the Oakland Carnival. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Yaffa Sookbirsingh waves the flag of Trinidad and Tobago. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Chris C. came to the event with the flag of Barbados. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Neferttiti Stewart waves the flag of Acadiana, Louisiana\u2019s Cajun Country. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"A Samba Funk percussionist. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Capoeira schools from around the Bay Area, including No Balanco D\u2019Angola and Preto Velho, came to the carnival to celebrate their art. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Kofi Glover demonstrates capoeira at the Oakland Carnival at Mosswood Park. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"A DJ mixes along the parade route. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Jinga Brazil members dance in the Oakland Carnival parade. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Xplosion Mas members dance during the Oakland Carnival parade. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Romona Nunez and Zakira Juniphant dance during the Oakland Carnival parade. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

\"\"Costume feathers from an Xplosion Mas dancer lie on the ground after the Oakland Carnival parade ends at Mosswood Park, June 6, 2026. Credit: Miles Cull for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n

“*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Miles\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Miles Cull is a photojournalist based in the California Bay Area who has covered everything from heated protests to Oregon Ducks games and quiet moments with individuals.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Miles Cull\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carnival, the multicultural festival rooted in syncretic forms of art and expression, observed around the world, with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[1472,330,143,112869,145,144],"class_list":["post-351929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-dance","tag-music","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-festivals","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}