Though the World Cup wrapped up just under a month ago, and Waving Flag is no longer being constantly played, with the Afrikadey! Festival coming up, you can go and see K’Naan perform it live! The festival takes place August 14 starting at 10:30am with a Bring-Your-Own-Drum Circle in Prince’s Island Park.
There are more events happening in the days prior, starting on August 9, happening all over the city. The starting event is the What is Afrikadey! Opening Gala, held on August 9 at Republik (219 - 17th Ave SW). Tickets for the Gala are $40, which includes admission to the festival at Prince’s Island Park. As the theme of this years festival is Africa: The Next Generation, the Gala showcases fashion, dance, music and spoken word from talented young people of African descent.
On August 12 at noon there will be an Afrikadey! preview in Olympic Plaza. Remesha Drums, a group of drummers from Burundi, will be performing a free show. That evening, starting at 7 pm, there will be theatrical readings of Things Fall Apart at the Central Public Library.
There will be two Afrikadey! workshops: a drum workshop on August 12 and a dance workshop on August 13. They will be held at the Art Gallery of Calgary at 7pm on their respective days. The workshops will be held by Kocassalé Dioubaté (drum) and Sasha Belle (dance) and will cost $20. From 10am-12pm on these days, the gallery is hosting children’s craft workshops as well. Contact the gallery to register at (403) 770-1350.
Head to Stephen Avenue Walk on August 13 for another free lunchtime performance. Toumany Kouyate from Senegal, will take the stage at noon in the 200W block. Later that day, the Central Public Library is hosting a symposium on why musicians write and perform, entitled, “Music: Power & Purpose”. The talk, which starts at 7pm, will feature clips of CBC interviews with K’Naan on the subject. Members of H’sao, Toumany Kouyate, Remesha Drums and John Reid, the founder of the Calgary International Jazz Festival will be present to speak on the topic. Also starting at 7pm this night is a performance by Bambara Trans at Local 522 (522 - 6th Avenue SW).
For the complete festival schedule, check the official Afrikadey! website.
Tickets for the Afrikadey! festival at Prince’s Island Park are $25 for adults and $20 for youth. Children under 12 and seniors over 65 get into the festival for free. If you want to buy them in advance downtown, you can go to Universal Hair Studio (939 - 6th Avenue SW).
I was fortunate enough to see K’Naan perform in Toronto last fall, and I would definitely recommend anyone go and see him. This talented Canadian performer puts on a fun, high energy show. While his performance will definitely be one of the highlights of the festival, there are many other events happening throughout the day. Nomfusi, who performed at last year’s Afrikadey!, will be back to impress crowds once again. Other artists performing are H’Sao, PapaGroove and Calgary’s own Dragon Fli Empire.
At the festival there will also be Big Rock beer gardens, a large variety of food vendors and art vendors, and a craft tent for the kids to make their own “Waving Flag”. The Ethiopian Church will also be showing their traveling exhibit, “The Ethiopian Church: Past, Present, and Future.”
Related Posts
| Tweet |
|
