by Rachel Ogbu

If you are visiting the UK this Summer then you must arrange to stop at the Africa Oyé festival in Liverpool this year which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary.

The sounds and moves of Afrobeats return to Liverpool – turning the city into an Afrobeats Zone. The festival this year promises to be bigger than ever and will once again be hosted by the charity, Afrobeats Liverpool.

Afrobeats Liverpool is a charity initiative established in 2013 in the heart of Liverpool to promote local hip-hop, R&B, soul, jazz and more traditional African music. Since the formation of the organisation, they have partnered with various charities in promoting community involvement through music in a range of local and international projects.

With the exceptional growth of African music outside of the continent, Afrobeats has become a popular musical genre; enjoyed all over the world. It is now one of the most recognisable new music genres, with its exuberant style and polyrhythms.

In addition to the Afrobeats Zone there will be plenty for festival-goers to enjoy, with over 100 traders on site, free workshops in the Active Zone, non-stop DJ sets in Trenchtown and Freetown, and of course a main stage line-up packed with international artists.

Africa Oyé’s 25th Anniversary festival will take place on 17th and 18th June in Sefton Park, from 12:30pm until 9:30pm both days.

In between the main stage acts, BBC 1Xtra’s DJ Edu and South Africa’s own Esa Williams will take to the DJ booth, whilst broadcasting legend Andy Kershaw heads up a packed line-up of DJs showcasing their sounds across the wider festival site.

Alongside the main stage of live music, the Oyé Village will be providing the public with a variety of world foods, workshops, dance classes, traders and DJs and more. Lots of child-friendly entertainment will once again be on-site so festival-goers can bring the whole family along.

Main Stage Line-Ups, Sefton Park

Saturday 17th June, 2017

KAOS (Community Performance)
Katumba (Community Performance)

Oyé Introduces: Nutribe & Butcha B

Bonga (Angola)
Daby Touré (Mauritania)
Dobet Gnahoré (Côte d’Ivoire)
Black Prophet (Ghana)
Mokoomba (Zimbabwe)

Sunday 18th June, 2017

Beatlife & Kinetika Bloco (Community Performance)

Oyé Introduces: Anwar Ali & Dave Owen

HAJAmadagascar & The Groovy People (Madagascar)
Diabel Cissokho (Senegal)
Dizzy Mandjeku & Odemba OK Allstars (DR Congo)
Jupiter & Okwess International (DR Congo)
Max Romeo (Jamaica)

It is free!