The son of music legend Bob Marley and a female supergroup will headline the acclaimed Africa Oyé Festival this summer.
The powerful and creative force of Les Amazones d’Afrique will close proceedings on Saturday 22nd June, whilst Julian Marley, fresh off his Grammy win for Best Reggae Album earlier this month, tops the bill on Sunday with his band, The Uprising.
The country’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture is returning to Liverpool’s Sefton Park in 2024 following record breaking attendances last year. The free festival will take over one of the city’s most picturesque green spaces for two packed days of live music, dance, workshops, DJ stages, food stalls, traders and more.
Born in London in 1975, Julian Marley is the son of reggae legend Bob Marley and Barbados-born Lucy Pounder. Growing up as a youth in a musical atmosphere, the Grammy Award winning musician, singer-songwriter, producer and humanitarian quickly adopted a musical lifestyle, and at an early age and became a skillful, self-taught musician mastering the bass, drums, guitar and keyboards.
In 2005, along with the Marley family, Julian embarked on a series of ‘Africa Unite’ performances which began in Ethiopia and included Ghana in 2006 and Jamaica in 2008. At the invitation of the Jamaican government, Julian Marley and The Uprising performed during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, and celebrated along-side Jamaica’s Gold medal-winning runner, Usain Bolt.
Julian Marley ranks higher in the consciousness movement of music than most reggae artists recognised today. In the same tradition as his father, Julian is a devout Rastafarian whose music is inspired by life and spirituality.
Les Amazones d’Afrique – originally booked to play the festival in 2020 before the pandemic led to cancellations of events across the country – is a creative force that embraces international voices; sweet, strong harmonies that summon the rights of women and girls; and a meltdown of heritage and new talent. They were formed in Bamako, Mali, in 2014 by three renowned Malian music stars and social change activists, Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré (who headlined Africa Oyé in 2022) and Mariam Doumbia, and the collective has since expanded to involve many female artists from across Africa and the diaspora, including Angélique Kidjo, Nneka and rising Malian star Rokia Koné.
While their cause — campaigning for gender equality and eradicating ancestral violence — is worthy enough in itself, their musical creative expression is equally powerful. Richly melodic and far-ranging, it blends pan-African styles and collaborative harmonies with gritty, contemporary pop.
The band have previously cracked The Guardian’s Top 50 albums of 2017, NPR Music’s best albums of 2020, and featured on Barrack Obama’s playlist. They have performed on Glastonbury Festival’s Pyramid stage and featured on flagship BBC music show Later… with Jools Holland.
Africa Oyé Festival
22nd & 23rd June 2024
Sefton Park, Liverpool
FREE ENTRY