Part of Africa 2005, this week long street festival will be celebrating all that's exciting and happening in the African Arts scene. And the best bit is that it's absolutely FREE!

Between 12pm -- 3pm every day from Monday 23 to Friday 27 May, an African lunch buffet will be laid out where you'll be able to sample a taste of African dishes courtesy of the catering company, Jellof Cuisine. At the same time you can check out the lunch-time discussions produced as part of African Week for BBC Radio London 94.9FM and The Roots project with some of the leading black voices from the world of music, film, literature, visual arts and fashion. In the evenings, from 6-9pm, the stage will be set for lively performances featuring music, fashion and poetry.

The bank holiday weekend (Sat 28 - Monday 30 May) will see the schedule of events beginning at midday and continuing until 6pm. Saturday will comprise of contemporary African music performances by the creme de la creme of the African hip hop and Afro pop scene which will be hosted by the Afrogroove Collective Sound System. On Sunday and Monday, you'll be encouraged to get your feet moving with interactive showcases of African dance that will trace the evolution and spread of dance styles such as capoeira, belly dancing, Zulu warrior dancing, street dance and loads more.

Highlights of the festival include the Spoken Word evening on Tuesday 24 May featuring Zena Edwards, Malika Booker, Ebele, [Verb] 'Swish and one of the busiest guys in the Black Arts scene at the mo', the prolific, Charlie Dark. This night will be hosted by fellow poet and artist Beyonder, who by the way, will be creating an interactive 'wall of words' installation which can be found at Kingly Court.

Also try to check out The Afro-Chic '05 fashion show on Thursday 26 May which will introduce the bold new age of African Fashion that marries European influence and African Heritage with fresh designs from Sierra Leone, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.

And if all the above doesn't whet your appetites, football fans, out and about the West End, will be interested to know that Puma has donated Aston Villa Mid-fielder and Cameroon International Eric Djemba-Djemba, who will signing autographs on Saturday 28 May.

For the full listing of events, check out the website: www.outofafrica-london.com