Here you will find information about the extensive supporting program of the 35th International Africa Festival. At the moment we are still planning the programme and this page will be updated regularly. We recommend that you subscribe to our newsletter. Here you will always receive the latest information about the festival.
Thursday – Saturday, 8:30 PM & Sunday, 7:00 PM
Havana Club is all about Cuban rum, Caribbean music and joie de vivre. Due to the events caused by the pandemic, we unfortunately could not continue the popular club in the known way. So that our fans can celebrate and dance again, the “Havana Club” will move to the “New Open Stage” as a revival.
An extra dance floor with disco lighting will provide the appropriate ambience. At a Havana Club bar various Cuban rums and cocktails can be tested to hot music.
Three Salsa bands will delight our guests with their live performances from Thursday to Saturday. Afterwards DJ Freegah as a Salsa specialist will play Latino music, supported by various dance couples, who will also visually motivate the audience.
On Sunday evening, our DJ Hi John from Kingston, Jamaica will again provide a hot atmosphere with his reggae party.
FASHION MADE IN AFRICA
New Open Stage, Thursday 4 PM, Friday – Sunday 12:45 PM & 6:30 pm
African fashion designer Rama Diaw from Saint Louis (Senegal) will once again be present at the Africa Festival with several fashion shows. To support her association “Aissaitou”, which brings together disadvantaged tailors, seamstresses and fabric dyers in the countryside and provides work, Afro Project is once again providing a free tent and organising the fashion shows.
This year, one fashion creation is dedicated to the African mother. These strong, hard-working, charismatic women are the driving force in the family and often forget themselves to take care of everything and everyone. This fashion show will be a great tribute to them, with a very beautiful staging and extraordinary outfits. Another focus will be the work of young Senegalese stylists. Madame Rama Diaw has spent several months training various designers and will present the work in the form of beautiful collections with different African fabrics.
The fashion shows will take place on Thursday at 4:00 pm and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 12:45 pm and 6:30 pm at the New Open Stage
CHILDREN´S PROGRAMME
KARI-BUNI WATOTO – Welcome children! Daily 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
“Kari-buni Watoto – Welcome children!” is the name of the dedicated children’s area, where – thanks to the cooperation with s.Oliver – there will be a wide range of activities for children of all ages, including the City of Würzburg’s play package, a large bouncy castle, face painting and colouring. Away from the hustle and bustle of the festival, parents and grandparents can watch their children play while enjoying a cool drink or coffee. The children’s area is available to visitors of all ages free of charge.
Ibu story teller – New Open Stage, Daily 1:15 PM & Sunday 3 PM
The children’s programme is an integral part of the Africa Festival. The author and musician Ibrahima Ndiaye from Senegal has a unique ability to inspire his young audience with a mixture of traditional storytelling, pantomime, percussion, dance and song. This time he tells stories from Africa of today and yesterday for tomorrow. Included are tales and black wisdom from his grandmother for young and old. You can listen to Ibu daily at the New Open Stage at 1:15 PM as well as Sunday at 3 PM.
ADESA – “THE BEST OF 35 YEARS ADESA” – NEW OPEN STAGE, Thursday – SATurday 3:00 PM
For 35 years now, Adesa has been touring four continents with its varied music and theatre programmes, reaching the hearts of people young and old. They already performed at the 1st Africa Festival, back then still in the Grombühl district centre. At this year’s children’s music spectacle, the colourful German-Ghanaian ensemble will be presenting a musical potpourri of various programme items from the last 35 years, bringing new and old with them.
Dance, acrobatics, clowning, stories and the successful mask theatre “The Bored King” – paired with musical hits from recent years will delight children and adults alike. So, let’s go to the joint anniversary celebration of ADESA and the International Africa Festival.
BAZAAR AND CULINArY DELIGHTS
Daily 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
The bazaar again has a lot to offer: among other things, African musical instruments and CDs with traditional and modern African music. In addition, extraordinary clothes and fabrics, jewellery as well as sculptures, traditional masks, objects of art and everyday objects will provide enthusiasm. To indulge in culinary delights, the food area has African and oriental delicacies in store for you from Thursday to Sunday (11:00 – 11:00). This year you can enjoy dishes from Senegal, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Cameroon, among others.
FOUNDATION AFRICA FESTIVAL & MAMA AFRIKA E.V.
FOR A LIFE WITHOUT FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
Mama Afrika is a non-profit recognised German-African association whose main goal is the fight against female genital mutilation. With the support of the Africa Festival Foundation and Sternstunden e.V., the Hadja Kitagbe Kaba primary school, named after the founder, was built in Kankan, Guinea, and opened on 5. October 2022. It has space for a total of 60 pupils and currently has three class levels from year 1. to year 3. In addition to providing a general education, the school also educates children and parents about the consequences of female genital mutilation. In Guinea, 96% of girls and women are still affected by female genital mutilation – despite a legal ban. The long-term goal is to end this negative tradition of female genital mutilation.
15 years of the university tent at the Africa Festival
University Tent, daily 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
For decades, the very diverse, intensive, and internationally recognized interdisciplinary research on Africa and African states, mostly together with African partners and partner institutions in Africa, has been an important part of the research landscape at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg. At the JMU, the Forum Africa Centre (FAZ) bundles these activities for joint external communication, creates synergies and advises the university in the context of its internationalization strategy on the topic of Africa.
SOcIAL AND INNOVATIVE PROJECTS
Place of social and innovative projects, daily 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
On the place of initiatives we will again present selected and meaningful projects around Africa as well as print media. The projects presented by the initiatives this year take place in Malawi, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Tanzania and many more. The information stands are open daily from 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
ARTE OPEN AIR CINEMA
ARTE movie programme @ Africa Festival 2024
The cultural TV channel ARTE is once again partner of the 35th Africa Festival and will be showing special films on African culture and music every day in the ARTE open air cinema. This year’s focus is on films about Cuba, including the premiere of the documentary “Cuba’s boxers” on Thursday. Other focal points are documentary films about young West African entrepreneurs and West African music. If not mentioned otherwise, the films will be shown in german.
THURSDAY, MAY 30TH
8:30 PM Bissau, An idol returns
documentary film, ARTE 2020, 53 Min.
9:30 PM Premiere: Cuba’s female boxers
documentary film, ARTE/Medienkontor 2024, 52 Min.
FRIDAY, MAY 31ST
8:30 PM Amas world, the new Ghana
documentary film, ARTE/Medienkontor 2016, 52 Min.
9:30 PM Cuba – Master of the barrel organ
documentary film, ARTE/Medienkontor 2017, 52 Min.
SATURDAY, JUNE 1ST
8:30 PM Cuban Dances
documentary film, ARTE/ZDF 2022, 43 Min.
9:30 PM Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales
documentary film, Oléo Films/Mad Minute Music 2023, 52 Min.
SUNDAY, JUNE 2ND
8:30 PM Senegal: From Paris back to Dakar
documentary film, ARTE 2022, 24 Min.
9:00 PM City Country Art: Special Ivory Coast
documentary film, ARTE 2022, 38 Min.
ORIGINAL EXHIBITION PHOTOS FOR SALE!
This year, photos from the diverse and exciting exhibitions of the International Africa Festival are still available for purchase for a good cause. All photos will be exhibited in the entrance area of the festival and can be taken away immediately if you are interested. The large-format photos are either framed or mounted on Alu Dipond and are priced between 100,– and 250,– Euro for a single photo. If you are interested, please contact the information stand.
The proceeds will go to the Africa Festival Foundation, which has so far supported the “Amadu Bansang Jobarteh” music school in The Gambia and the “Mama Africa” school in Guinea. Both school projects were founded by two committed African women whom we have known for a long time. This is one of the reasons why the two projects have been so successful so far. The Foundation has chosen and supported these two schools in West Africa because education in Africa is the best weapon against ignorance, intolerance and poverty.