The festival season is heating up in the musical historical hub of Liverpool in the United Kingdom for the summer of 2024. The awaited and annual Africa Oyé Music Festival is in its era of preparation and is set to be held in its annual location in Sefton Park from the 22nd – 23rd of June, 2024 from 12:30pm through till 9:30pm.
It is the UK’s largest festival that celebrates African and Caribbean music and culture. In the spirit of celebrating Oye’s philosophy, which is considered to be: ‘free and open to all’, the event will be free of charge. Their funding partners are officially listed and they include the Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council.
The festival originally began in 1992 in the form of small performances in the heart of Liverpool’s city centre, and over the decades it has risen in popularity. To account for the growing audience, the festival moved to Sefton Park in 2002.
Headlining Acts
It was announced 3 days ago (27th February) that the two headlining acts will be Les Amazones d’Afrique and Julian Marley. Les Amazones d’Afrique are an all female, contemporary world-music group who embrace international voices to blur cultural boundaries, and will close the show on the 22nd. Julian Marley, the ninth son of the beloved and late Bob Marley (1945-1981) who helped introduce Reggae music to the world, will perform the following day. He will be glistening in his post-Grammy glow for Best Reggae Album which was awarded to him on February 5th, 2024. More of the main stage artists are yet to revealed, but will be very soon.
According to BBC, the art director of the festival, Paul Duhaney, said:
“Les Amazones d’Afrique are the definition of a supergroup – so much talent coming together to create something really special … And with Julian Marley you’ve got a reggae superstar who has truly emerged from his father’s shadow … You don’t win Grammys without being an incredible talent in your own right and it’ll be a Sunday night for the history books when he closes the festival this year”.
Transcending Cultural Boundaries
This festival is more than a tribute to African culture. It will challenge misrepresentations of African culture, which in the narrow Eurocentric view is attached to images of war, poverty, famine and diseases. (It can also be understood as a way to challenge Bob Geldof’s representation of famine in Band Aid’s 1984 Christmas classic ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’) Therefore, the festival aims to challenge these images and assumptions of reality through their beautiful and eclectic abundance of foods, intricate cultures, artists and music. There will be a total of 90 stalls which will sell the most popular African food and drinks, as well as fashion and arts and crafts.
According to The Sunday Times: “This isn’t just the largest festival of African and Caribbean music in Britain, it’s the best.”
Overall, Liverpool is the place to be this summer season. This festival is more than a performance of international voices, but sets an intention to transcend assumptions and celebrate multi-culturalism without geographical boundaries.
