LIVERPOOL CELEBRATES ‘Africa Oyé’
THE final wave of live acts for the 31st annual Africa Oyé Festival at Liverpool’s Sefton Park this weekend, 17th & 18th June, have just been announced.
Headlining this year’s festival are Afrobeat superstar, Seun Kuti (below) and pioneering dancehall singer, Tanya Stephens. They will also be joined by British/Congolese rapper and singer, ZieZie.
Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney, said, “We’re really pleased with the line-up for this year ‘s festival and how it reflects our ongoing mission to showcase the music of Africa and the wider Diaspora.
“Artists from Liverpool to Accra and London to Havana will take over Sefton Park this summer for a truly international celebration.”
Also appearing are Alogte Oho, the number one Frafra gospel artist from within the explosive music scene of Bolgatanga in Northern Ghana. Accompanied by his powerful female choir, the group is driven by super-tight horns and vintage keyboards; Alogte Oho & his Sounds of Joy.
Grupo Lokito will be fusing blistering contemporary Congolese grooves with the fire of Cuban music on the festival Sunday afternoon, when audiences can expect glorious melodious vocals, soaring guitars, and lilting keyboards.
Describing their music as, “a combination of life experiences, dreams and joys that have fed off of our direct connection to Africa,” Soukustek (below) are a group born under the gaze of the Caribbean Sea surrounding the Colombian coastal city of Cartagena de Indias. The band combines the rhythms and sounds of guitars that arrived from Africa in the ‘70s and seamlessly blends them with the flavour of the Colombian Caribbean.
The full line-up announcement also features Liverpool’s own, Ni Maxine. The neo-jazz singer’s performance on the Saturday afternoon will mark the first time an artist from the ‘Oyé Introduces’ programme has been invited back to be part of the main stage line-up, such was the acclaim following her performance last year.
Launched in 2015, ‘Oyé Introduces’ sees local artists open the musical programme on both days of the festival – following community performances from Merseyside cultural organisations – giving some of the area’s brightest young talent the chance to share the stage with international stars.
This year, the programme sees R&B vocal harmony group, AMBA and South Liverpool rap trio, Black Borough take the stage at Sefton Park.
Please be aware, no tickets are required for the festival with thousands expected in Sefton Park to celebrate the music and culture of Africa with music, workshops, DJs, dance, food stalls and a range of traders in the Village.
Keep up with all the latest Africa Oyé announcements here:
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