With summer on the horizon, the festival season is rapidly approaching, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to revive our Festival Files section and introduce you to the most exhilarating events happening throughout the UK in the coming months.

To kick off this series, there is no better festival to feature than Africa Oyé, which is set to grace the stage next weekend. This event is an electrifying celebration of African music, art, and culture, and what makes it even more remarkable is that it offers free entry to all attendees.

For over three decades, Africa Oyé has been captivating audiences by bringing the vibrant spirit of the African continent to the surroundings of Sefton Park in Liverpool. This iconic festival has firmly established itself as a summer highlight, drawing in crowds of enthusiastic visitors from both near and far.

As the name implies (with “oyé” being a Yoruba word meaning “joy” or “happiness”), the festival exudes an atmosphere brimming with vibrancy and energy. Since its inception in 1992, Africa Oyé has aimed to showcase the extraordinary richness and diversity of African and African Diaspora music. And also in this 31st edition, it proudly spotlights an extensive range of genres, encompassing both traditional and contemporary sounds, from afrobeat to zouk and everything in between. The lineup features captivating acts such as Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy, FRA!, Grupo Lokito, Kimi Djabaté, Ni Maxine, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, SOUKUSTEK, Tanya Stephens, VEEBY & ZieZie

But Africa Oyé is more than just music. It also aims to educate and promote cultural understanding. The festival offers workshops, seminars, and discussions that explore the history, social aspects, and politics of African and African diaspora cultures. These activities create opportunities for dialogue, learning, and a deeper appreciation of these diverse cultures.

To provide you with an insider’s perspective on the event, we had the privilege of speaking with Paul Duhaney, the Artistic Director of the festival, who shared insights about the event and its impact.

Can you give us a brief history of how Africa Oyé Festival came about?

Oyé was started in 1992 by a Glaswegian named Kenny Murray who wanted to bring the music of Africa over to the UK after traveling the continent and discovering loads of great artists. After settling in Liverpool on his return, he started Africa Oyé as a series of gigs in venues across the city centre.

What is your involvement in Africa Oyé?

I started working for the organisation in 1998 and after being mentored by Kenny Murray, and became Artistic Director in 2013, responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation throughout the year and all the artist booking for the festival itself.

What really sets Africa Oyé apart from other festivals in the UK?

We pride ourselves on being free and ‘open to all’. We always aim to put on a line-up of music and entertainment that rivals any stage in the country in terms of artistic excellence but with zero financial barriers for the audience. The incredibly positive atmosphere at the festival is unlike anywhere else – largely because of that.

Can you describe the process of curating artists for Africa Oyé? What criteria work well and what doesn’t?

The application numbers get bigger every year and we could book our main stage several times over and not drop anything in terms of quality. The key is balance; whether that’s making sure a range of countries are represented; making sure we have a gender split; and that a variety of genres are reflected across the programme. Such is the status of the festival now; we’re also blessed to be invited to conferences and showcases across the world where myself and the team are able to see artists perform live and several end up on the festival programme each year through that route.

Which acts have you been eager to book in the past and would you like to see return in the future?

I would love to bring an Afrobeatz heavyweight like Burna Boy or Whizz Kid one day and It would also be great to bring the ‘Marley’ family as they are reggae royalty.

I’d love to bring Zimbabweans Mokoomba back to the festival one day, as well as Malian songstress Fatoumata Diawara as they were two of my most memorable performances.

What is your favourite element of Africa Oyé?

We’ve always been careful to not outgrow ourselves. We add in something new every year but it’s never an element that could sink us if we have two days of rain and don’t end up getting the money from the bars or merchandise/donations etc. It’s hard to pick one thing over everything else, but I go back to the atmosphere and the audience that is just unlike any other festival. Hard to explain unless you’ve been there but anyone who has will know what I mean!

What has been your favourite part of planning this festival?

It has to be being exposed to so many exciting bands and artists. Hopefully in the future we’ll have more than the one stage for live music so that we can showcase even more talent coming out of Africa and the Diaspora.

What is the relationship between Africa Oyé and the local community? How does the festival interact with Liverpool?

There’s a real ownership of Africa Oyé that the people of Liverpool feel – and quite rightly so; it’s theirs and it wouldn’t be the same in any other city. Because they’ve seen it grow from this small community festival into this juggernaut we have now, there’s a real pride when people talk about it. There’s not many festivals where you see people who attended in the early days still coming and bringing their kids and sometimes even grandkids – it’s amazing to see.

How does Africa Oyé contribute to promoting diversity and inclusion in the music industry and beyond?

We want to make sure that not only is our on-stage line-up diverse and inclusive, but that behind the scenes we’re providing opportunities for those with protected characteristics to get a foot in the door in an industry which can sometimes seem a bit ‘closed shop’ if you don’t already know someone working in it.

In what ways does the festival engage with emerging talent and provide a platform for up-and-coming artists?

We have our Oyé Introduces programme which sees a local artist open the music line-up on each day of the festival. This in itself has become incredibly competitive each year in terms of applications, when before it was us having to go out searching for artists to book. This year is also special in that it’s the first time that we have a former Introduces artist returning to be a part of the main stage line-up proper, such was the acclaim following Ni Maxine’s performance last year.

Brexit has been impacting various industries, including the music sector. How has it already affected Africa Oyé and how do you anticipate it may influence the festival in the coming years?

The most obvious affect is in terms of artist visas where you’re now seeing big delays and rising costs in terms of just getting them into the country. If it doesn’t improve then we realistically have to look at more artists who based in Europe or the UK to cut down on those costs.

While each festival aims to establish its own unique identity, there are often shared themes, genres, and artists. How competitive is the festival scene in terms of accessing the same resources, and is collaboration encouraged to ensure fairness?

I think promoters, agents and musicians are very co-operative in the so called ‘world music circuit’ as our section of the music industry requires a lot of support financially, so partnerships are quite prevalent. I think the main issue is working with organisations without these networks who do not understand how we work as a free festival.

Aside from Africa Oyé, what has been the most memorable performance you have witnessed as a festivalgoer?

Probably watching Issac Hayes performing his final set in the UK before he passed away at the WOMAD Festival. It was pouring with rain but absolutely rammed and fantastic.

Last summer, Africa Oyé celebrated its 30th anniversary. How was this milestone celebrated, and what are your expectations and aspirations for the festival in the next 30 years?

We had what we described as a ‘festival of headliners’ which saw an incredible line-up over the two days of the festival, as well as a programme of satellite events across the Liverpool City Region which saw us working with venues and partners that we’ve linked up with over the past 30 years. It was an incredibly rewarding year and allowed us to reflect on how far we’ve come over three decades.

In just a few words, how would you introduce Africa Oyé to someone who has never experienced it before?

It’s a true ‘celebration’ of music and culture that is free and open to all. Whether you want to park yourself up at the main stage for the day and watch artists from across the world or you want to bring the kids with a picnic blanket and take part in the free workshops and enjoy the two DJ stages – there’s the cliched ‘something for everyone’ but we really do mean that. Everyone is welcome.

Since its inception, Africa Oyé has always been a free-entry event. If you wish to support the festival in its inclusive and cultural mission, there are various ways to contribute. To learn more about how you can get involved, simply follow this LINK.

- You can read all the previous Festival Files HERE -