This Saturday and Sunday, Sefton Park in Liverpool hosts the biggest free African music festival in the UK. OK, so there’s probably not much competition, but that’s all the more reason to catch this lively, eclectic event, where the best music from Africa and South America rubs shoulders.
One highlight promises to be the Bedouin Jerry Can Band, Egyptian nomads who bash out traditional music on rubbish scavenged from the battlefields of the Six-Day War, with the odd reed pipe riff thrown in.
The raucous call-and-response of Kenge Kenge from Kenya is also worth looking out for. They are reformed tax inspectors (yes, really) and play a blend of gongs, horns, one-stringed fiddles and flutes to produce music of incomparable danceability. Appreciate Cuba’s Caandido Fabre and Mozambique superstars Massukos, while enjoying art and food inspired by the great continent. Incidentally “Africa oye” means “listen to Africa.” And since entry is free, who are we to say no?
www.africaoye.com.
