Thousands of expatriates from Algeria to Zimbabwe are expected to converge this Saturday, July 18, at City Hall Plaza for the sixth annual African Festival of Boston (AFoB), a multi-cultural, multi-goal event.

Massachusetts is home to some 80,000 African immigrants. Large numbers of them as well as the Afro-friendly and the Afro-curious will be heading to Government Center for an afternoon of entertainment, education, and celebration of cultural richness.

Though there are other annual African festivals in the Northeast (in such cities as Lowell), AFoB is acknowledged to be the largest in New England.

The 2015 AFoB, which is free and open to the public, will again showcase the continent’s diverse music, dance, and dress through performances by local and internationally known African artists. From noon to 6 p.m., the plaza will be ringed with booths with vendors selling African food, clothing and crafts, and a kids’ tent, which will feature African-style face-painting.

Other highlights include a parade of national flags and a drum call as well as an Afro-fashion show.

However, the heart of the gathering is the extensive information fair, which translates into action AFoB’s watchwords: “Promote – Unite – Educate – Legacy.”

AFoB promotes connections between African refugees and the state’s social services. Because many Boston-area African natives are here in the US in difficult legal circumstances, they are reluctant to give government agencies their real names and contact information, but more established fellow-Africans aim to coax them to avail themselves of the state’s offerings.

AFoB unites the very diverse populations into pan-African activities that benefit all expatriates. AFoB educates Americans, many of whom seem to think that Africa is just one country with one culture. Few non-African Bostonians can name more than a couple of the continent’s 54 sovereign states and 10 non-sovereign territories. And AFoB uses its musical showcase and its variety of vendors to hint at the richness and variety of its very distinct regional cultures.

Entertainment is provided by artists from different parts of the continent, some who live now in the US and others who have flown over especially for the event. Hailing from the Congo are Tonton Barka, Dahmu Manero, Guesy Lumemo, and Big Brotha Sadi. Nigerian singers will include Otike, Deborah Archibong, and a Dorchester resident whose stage name is Swan Bee Lord.

Other countries represented include Guinea (Kalifa & Kolba), Sierre Leone (SBM), and Kenya (Chapter Entitled Outstanding).

The AFoB is the brainchild of Maman Jeanne Kasongo and Mireille Tushiminina, women’s rights activists and principals of Boston’s Shalupe Foundation, which is convoking the festival.

Shalupe (which in French means “lifeboat”) focuses on promoting the welfare of war-deprived women and children in both in the USA and the DRCongo by connecting them with resources for shelter, education, career training, and health.

Organizers summarize their multiple goals for the afternoon “ to unite the African Diaspora not only for an entertaining event but to empower communities by providing tools via education to become self-sustainable, capacity building network, undertake collaborative efforts designed to mobilize the human and material resources of Africans for social action, development and advancement through public awareness programs and cultural projects.”

All the details are at africanfestivalboston.org and on Facebook.