Africa Oyé has revealed the first set of performers for its 2023 festival in Liverpool’s Sefton Park. The lineup will include artists from Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, and Cameroon, with more acts to be announced soon. Fra!, a Ghanaian highlife band, will lead the pack, followed by Veeby, a Cameroonian afrosoul soloist, and Kimi Djabaté, a Guinean guitarist, percussionist, and balafón player.
The festival, which celebrates the music and culture of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Diaspora, will feature live music, workshops, DJ stages, food stalls, and a range of traders in the Oyé Village. The Oyé Active Zone, which hosts free multi-arts workshops, will return, along with a new Toddler Zone and the acclaimed DJ stages Trenchtown and Freetown.
Oyé’s Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney, said following the reveal: “As we enter our fourth decade of celebrating the music and culture of Africa and the Diaspora, we’re delighted to announce this first wave of artists for the 2023 festival.
“As part of our 30th anniversary last year, we were lucky enough to be invited to music conferences across the world. Our first announcement for Oye ’23 features three of the artists we discovered during showcases at industry events such as WOMEX and Mundial Montreal, where we were able to promote Oyé and Liverpool as a destination for international creatives. We can’t wait for our Oyé crowds to experience their live sets and be blown away, just as we were.”
The festival will be held on June 17th and 18th, 2023, from 12:30 pm to 9:30 pm, and admission is free. The festival’s commitment to being “free and open to all” means that the Access Tent, British Sign Language on-stage translators, and Access Viewing Platform will also all return. Donations to support the festival can be made via africaoye.com.
(headline image: Fra! – Photo by Eli Artcher)
Author: World Music Central News Room
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