Zouaoui Benhamadi, an officer on the executive organizing committee said overall, 51 nations are taking part. The United States of America and Brazil are the guests of honor, since they both have significant populations of African origin.

A grand parade was observed through the streets of Algiers, from Sofia Park to Bab-El-Oued. Showboat-style floats from each African participating nation, along with thousands of performers, brought Algiers colorfully to life.

Lucy, the famous human fossil discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and exhibited only once outside of that country is also exhibited at the festival.

The event will feature 8,000 African artists and thinkers and some 20,000 local artists. An artists' village with 1,250 beds was set up in Zeralda. Some 22,000 police officers will ensure that the festival runs smoothly. Checkpoints with explosives detectors will also be set up.

During the festival, Africa, the cradle of humanity, will be celebrated in song this year by Youssou N'dour, Cesaria Evora, Salif Keita, Mory Kanté, Ait Menguellet, Cheb Khaled, Amazigh Kateb, Karim Ziad, Warda, Ismaël Lo, Houria Aïchi, Big Ali, Kassav, Hasna El Becharia, and many others.

The festival also welcome Isabelle Adjani, a French actress whose father is Algerian. The other "star" of the Festival is Lucy. One of the ancestors of humanity, who is on display in the museum of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) - and who has left the country only once to go to the United States – will be taken to the Bardo Museum in Algiers.

Further, over 200 titles by some of the greatest African authors will be reprinted concurrently with the festival. Various conferences will take place during the festival, dealing with topics ranging from Sufism, to "Africa on the stage", with symposia on "Militant diplomacy in the NEPAD" and "Africa, women and development".

According to the ministry of culture, there will be 500 music and dance performances, with over 2,300 singers and musicians and more than 2,800 dancers across thirty stages in Algiers and other cities.

In addition, there will be 41 plays involving more than 450 participants performed at the national theatre and the El-Mouggar hall, and nine exhibitions involving over 230 artists. Five unprecedented major exhibitions will be open to the public.

The decision to hold the Pan-African Festival in Algiers was made at the Khartoum summit in 2006. The African Union unearthed the Port-Louis charter for culture, inspired by the 2001 UNESCO universal declaration on cultural diversity and by the 1969 Algiers Pan-African cultural manifesto.