The stage will be alive with African music, dance and spoken word.

The African Market will offer delicious African-inspired cuisine, books, handcrafted and imported items, clothing, jewelry and more.

Workshops will offer perspectives on healing, health maintenance and economic empowerment.

These are among the highlights of the 24th Annual Capital City Kwanzaa Festival, one of the largest festivals on the East Coast celebrating the holiday.

This year’s festival is scheduled from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Altria Theater, 6 N. Laurel St.

The festival opens 1 p.m. with the African Market.

An ancestral libation and candle-lighting ceremony will follow at 2 p.m.

Tickets purchased in advance are $6, and $5 for students ages 12 to 18 and seniors age 65 and older. Add $1 for tickets purchased at the door. Children under 12 are free.

This year’s theme is “Kujichagulia: Reclaiming Our Communities Through Self-Determination,” said festival organizer Janine Bell.

Ms. Bell is executive director of the Elegba Folklore Society, a Richmond nonprofit whose mission is to promote the cultural arts and heritage of Africa and its descendants.

The seven-day holiday of Kwanzaa begins Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 1. The holiday is rooted in African traditions and encourages year-round discipline and adherence to the seven principles known collectively as Nguzo Saba.

On the program are workshops teaching the seven principles — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The workshops will run from 4:30 to 8 p.m.

Also on tap: Wildfire, a reggae artist who sings about peace, love and African awareness, will perform at 2:30 p.m.; and Elegba Folklore Society dancers, drummers and singers will perform at 3:30 p.m.

James Small Speaks, a professor in the Black Studies Department at City University of New York, will speak at 4:30 p.m.

The G7 Jazz group of Open High School students and members of the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild will perform at 5:45 p.m.

At 8 p.m., Plunky & Oneness, featuring saxophonist J. Plunky Branch, will perform a fusion of African musical forms, jazz, funk and R&B.

First launched in 1986, the city’s Kwanzaa celebration typically attracts more than 3,000 attendants, including vendors from Maryland, New York and Boston.

Details on the festival: (804) 644-3900 or go to www.efsinc.org/events/festivals/kwanzaa-festival.