Yam Carnival is set to make its debut this summer on August 28th at Clapham Common. The event has had to push back this debut, having been previously scheduled to take place during August 2020 before COVID wiped out a summer of UK music festivals.
Yam Carnival has now joined the ever-growing list of British festivals that have announced that they will be going ahead this summer, including Parklife, Latitude, All Points East, and Reading and Leeds Festival. With plenty more festivals probably set to follow suit, music lovers will have plenty to look forward to in the coming months.
Thus far, the line-up for Yam Carnival includes: Davido, Kehlani, Pa Salieu, Honey Dijon, Rema, IAMDDB, Femi Kuti, Ari Lennox, and many more. With artists from all over the African diaspora, the event certainly lives up to its billing as “an unmissable celebration of Black culture from around the world”. Native Africans, British acts of African and Caribbean heritage, and African Americans will all appear alongside each other in what will truly be “an unmissable celebration”.
One of the most exciting acts on the billing is Coventry-raised Pa Salieu. The rising star frequently reps Gambia in his music, wearing his heritage proudly on his sleeve. In an interview with NME earlier this year, the artist compared his experiences of childhood in Gambia and Britain, saying, “If you’re hungry there [in Gambia], you don’t even need to ask. They’ll see and they’ll come and give you food. Everyone shares. We used to call the neighbours down and eat with us on these big plates. At least there’s freedom back home. If you ain’t got no money [in the UK], no one wants to love you. The world is different here.” It is fitting that Pa Salieu will be performing at Yam Carnival, an event looking to re-instate the feeling of community this summer.
This brand-new music festival was inspired by the New Yam Festival of the Igbo People, an annual cultural festival in West Africa to celebrate the end of the rainy season in August. Building upon this African tradition, organisers of Yam Carnival will hope to re-create the festive feeling of this historical celebration.
In a press release, the organisers of the festival also promised that a range of “African-influenced food trucks and chefs from around London” will be at the event. Accordingly, it seems like Yam Carnival is set to be an entire cultural experience that stretches beyond mere music.
You can sign up for first access to pre-sale tickets here.
