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SURROUNDING PROGRAMME

23. December 2015
  • 11 Feb

    WELCOME

    Welcome to our 32nd International Africa Festival at Mainwiesen in Würzburg! We would like to thank you, dear audience, for continuing to remain loyal, as you have been in the years before, and welcome the many new guests, who may have become aware of us upon your recommendation, to enjoy four days of wonderful African atmosphere. With Awa Ly, Angélique Kidjo, Lira, Lura and Nkulee Dube five strong women will accompany you through the concert evenings. Of course, the well-known musicians Habib Koité, Patrice or Moh! Kouyaté from Guinea, who founded the Guinée Music All Stars just for the festival, can easily compare. The Open Stage is always one of the places to discover new music from the black continent or the diaspora. At this stage, his time, nine artists and bands will perform at the festival for the first time or will have their first performance at all in front of a German audience.We want to point out an important project which we present and support this year: ”The Great Green Wall“! It`s an initiative of the African Union, which tries to fight the effects of climate change and desertification by planting a protection wall of trees and plants in the Sahel zone. One of the main campaigners is the musician and actor
    Inna Modja from Mali, who can be seen in the film ”The Great Green Wall“ , shown at the ARTE cinema tent. Furthermore, many artists from countries of this region are represented on our music stages. The exhibition ”Faces of Sahel“ from the internationally renowned photographer Mario Gerth will bring the people from the Sahel zone closer to the visitors. Another subject is the sustainability of development projects. One, which is especially well done, is nuruCoffee and respectively nuru-Women. Former Germany´s Next Topmodel Sara Nuru, who founded this food start-up in 2017 with her sister Sali in the home country of her parents Ethiopia, will talk about these projects at Havana Club. We are also happy that Queen Onomrokor III and King Mensah I from Ghana will honor us with their presence this year. You can increase your knowledge of African kingdoms at the exhibition ”Kingdoms of Africa“ from the worldwide renowned photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher at the foyer of the university of Würzburg.
    Of course, this year as well, the popular fashion show of the Senegalese designer Rama Diaw or the crazy stories from our Ibu at the children´s tent are must-haves. For those who want to let the festival day end with a lot of swing, we highly recommend the Havana Club, where this year – amongst others - the DJ collective ”Freak de l`Afrique“ will play on Sunday and Monday. The cultural TV channel is again the partner of the 32nd Africa Festival and will be presenting the ARTE cinema tent for the twelfth time with films about African and Caribbean culture and music.

     

    With our festival motto ”Different Colors – One People!“ we are looking forward to your visit and wish you wonderful days at the festival!

     

    Best regards,
    Your Afro Project team

  • 01 Mar

    STAGE FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

    Like every year, visitors can get to know traditional music from West Africa (Guinea, the Gambia, Senegal and Ghana) under the bridge next to the bazaar. They can listen to different percussion instruments like saba, djembe and doun-doun. The Senegalese kora player Saliou Cissoko from Casamance adds calm and relaxing sounds.

     

    Saliou Cissokho © Bugs Steffen
  • 01 Mar

    ACROBATICS AND STREET PARADE


    Street parade Adesa | © Johannes Kiefer

    On Friday at 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p. m. and Saturday and Sunday at 12:30 and 2:30 pm respectively acrobatics and music group Adesa will present a breath-taking street parade. The parade will move across the festival ground and will pick up the young audience along the way right when the children’s programme starts.

    Street parade Adesa| © Mario Gerth
  • 01 Mar

    PHOTO EXHIBITION

    FACES OF SAHEL

    Mario Gerth

    Fulani from Mauretanien

     

    Over the past four years, the internationally renowned photographer Mario Gerth has travelled the Sahel zone from west to east, visiting nomads and semi-nomads such as the Peul in Mauritania, the Tuareg in Northern Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, the Fulbe in Chad, the Mundari and Karamajong in Southern Sudan, the Omo Valley tribes in Ethiopia and the Afar in Eritea and Djibouti. Their lives are defined by the search for water and food for their animals. Unfortunately, climate change is threatening the Sahel zone and its inhabitants with a major drought and famine. With his impressive photographs, Mario Gerth wants to tell the stories of the nomads and draw attention to their environment and current situation. Gerth‘s photographs have been shown in international exhibitions and published in various magazines. Today he works as a banker - part-time - in Germany and as a photographer and journalist in Africa. The newspaper „Die Zeit“ describes him as a person who transitions from one culture to another frequently.

     

    The photos of the exhibition can be seen from 21st April to 6th June 2020 in the City Library, Marktplatz 9, 97070 Würzburg (opening time: Monday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm) and at the International Africa Festival.

    KINDOMS IN AFRICA

    Königreiche Afrika

     

    Königin aus Ghana

     

     

    “The exhibition will show photos from kingdoms in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Congo, Cameroon and Swaziland. The photos were taken by the international reknowed photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher during their 40 year journey across Africa. Part of the images were also released in their 2 last books African Twilight. The exhibition consists of 26 colour photos and will take place at the University of Würzburg (Sanderring 2, 97070 Würzburg) from 15 May to 24 July 2020 (opening hours Monday till Friday 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p. m. and Saturday from 10.00 a. m. to 6.00 p. m.). As an addition to the exhibition, the two photographers will also talk about their work in a lecture, which will take place at Havana Club on Monday, 31 May 2020 at 11.30 pm. There, they will also speak about their new book and sign copies for the visitors.”

     

     

    Gesichter des Sahel

    Königreiche Afrika

     

    König von Foumban, Kamerun

     

  • ARTE Kinozelt 01 Mar

    ARTE CINEMA TENT

    The television channel ARTE will again accompany the 32nd Africa Festival as a partner. For the 12th time, ARTE will present documentary films about Africa in the ARTE cinema tent in the middle of the festival area. This year the focus is on films about strong women from Africa.

    FRIDAY:

    8.30 p. m. | Senegal: Ladies´ Turn - Frauen an den Ball!
    Documentary film from Helene Harder, 2012, 52 Min

    9.30 p. m. | Soul Ladies: Zwischen Afrika und Europa
    Documentary film from Alexander C. Stenzel, ARTE/HR 2018, 52 Min

    SUNDAY:

    8.30 p. m. | Auf den Spuren von Cesária Évora: Weltmusik von den Kapverden
    Documentary film from Ulrich Stein und Jan Kerhart, ARTE/ZDF 2019, 55 Min

    9.30 p. m. | The Great Green Wall
    Documentary film from Jared P. Scott, 2019, 90 Min

    The film is shown in English language

    SATURDAY:

    8.30 p. m. | Fonko: Urbane Musiktrends in Westafrika
    Documentary film from Göran Olsson, Lamin Daniel Jadama und Lars Loven, 2015, 52 Min

    9.30 p. m. | Johnny Clegg: Der weiße Zulu
    Documentary film from Amine Mestari, ARTE-France 2018, 52 Min

     

     

     

     

    MONDAY:

    8.30 p. m. | Reggae Boyz - Jamaikas Traum von der WM
    Documentary film from Till Schauder, ARTE 2018, 74 Min

     





    ARTE Logo

    SENEGAL: LADIES´ TURN - FRAUEN AN DEN BALL!

    Women are supposed to be at home instead of running after the ball. Women footballers in Senegal are confronted with this prejudice every day. The "Ladies' Turn" club dreams of taking the female athletes from their improvised football fields to the big stadium in Dakar. The film accompanies the club during preparations for the games. The sportswomen are fighting for more equal rights - and in doing so they not only arouse enthusiasm among their families and sports journalists.
    © ARTE FRANCE Natacha Adam

     

     

       SOUL LADIES: BETWEEN AFRICA AND EUROPE

    Three strong women who have already enthused the audience of the Africa Festival with their music and charisma: Y’akoto, Nneka and Grammy-winner Angélique Kidjo. All three commute between different worlds and find their home in music. The film, which will premiere at the Africa Festival, portrays the artists, enquires about their roots and their self-perception and shows their commitment to tolerance, freedom and human rights

     

    © HR

     

        FONKO: URBANE MUSIC TRENDS IN WESTAFRICA

    Francophone West Africa is an important centre for music trends. Here, traditional rhythms and urban club music are blending. Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is the centre of the West African hip-hop scene with musicians like Sister Fa and Daara J family but also stars of world music like Youssou N‘Dour. In Benin, the afro pop grandfathers of the legendary orchestra Polyrytmo are having a musical revival. In Burkina Faso artists use music to protest against inequalities and corruption.

    © Ania Winiarska

     

        JOHNNY CLEGG: THE WITHE ZULU

    In July 2019 Johnny Clegg died. He was one of South Africa's most important musicians and a symbolic figure in the fight against apartheid. He combined western rock with South African Zulu music and brought together musicians of all genres on stage. The film allows Clegg to speak for himself through multiple interview clips and provides a very personal insight into his life. A film about the unifying power of music on South Africa's painful journey to freedom.

     © HR

     

        ON THE TRACKS CESÁRIA ÉVORA

    The people of Cape Verde raved enthusiastically about music, as if it were their greatest treasure. Their national heroine, Cesária Évora, has made the melancholy sounds of the Morna known throughout the world. The music is full of emotion and reflects the long and painful history of slavery in the archipelago. Whether during intimate Impro-sessions in waterfront pubs, at the world-famous Mindelo carnival or during morning singing in kindergarten: music is an indispensable element of Cape Verdean society.

    © HR

     

        THE GREAT GREEN WALL

    The effects of climate change are particularly dramatic in the African Sahel region: drought, famine and migration. The people of the region have therefore taken the initiative and are working to implement the ambitious project "The Great Green Wall". An 8,000-kilometre-long green strip of trees is to be created across the continent. The film follows the "Great Green Wall" with the Malian activist and singer Inna Modja. It shows the hopes and fears of the people - and their passion for music.

    © GGW Photography

     

        REGGAE BOYZ

    The Jamaican national football team calls itself “The Reggae Boyz“, as the team has a lot of music in its blood. Here, football and music simple belong together and Bob Marley already lauded the spiritual power of the “beautiful game“. The film accompanies the reggae band No-Maddz and the Jamaican national football team with the German trainer Winnie Schäfer during the preparations for the qualification for the world cup in Brazil in 2014. An atmospheric story about the close connection between football, music and national pride of the Caribbean island.
    © RealFiction Filmverleih
  • Basar und Handwerkermarkt 01 Mar

    BAZAAR & FOOD

    Maskenhändler | © Mario Gerth

    The bazaar has lots on offer once again, such as African percussion and musical instruments, books and CDs with a traditional and modern African sound. Extraordinary clothing and materials, jewellery and sculptures, masks and artistic, as well as practical objects will also enthuse visitors. In order to indulge in fine food, the bazaar and food area will be offering African and oriental delicacies to you from Friday to Monday (11:00 am - 11:00 pm). This year, you can enjoy among others dishes from Jamaica, Ethiopia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ruanda!

    OASIS OF BEAUTY & RELAXATION

     © Bugs Steffen

    Away from the turmoil of the festival visitors can take a break from everyday life at our new oasis of relaxation, where they can chill-out in deck chairs or enjoy stuffed dates, pastry and Moroccan tea. Big trees, parasols and the authentic Moroccan royal tent provide shade. Women who do henna tattoos or braid hair will make you even prettier.

  • 01 Mar

    BAMBOO HALL | UNITENT | s. OLIVER

    Bambushalle | © Bugs Steffen

     

    At the 32nd International Africa Festival there will again be our Bamboo Hall, where different initiatives and media will present themselves. The "Freundeskreis Ombili" will again inform about its project with Bushmen in Namibia. In addition, "Abiola", who wants to advance the power supply in Africa, will be represented. The non-profit association "AGERTO" has set itself the task of providing young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds with high-quality vocational training. The organisation "One Dollar Glasses" wants to achieve that there is a continuous and independent basic optical care in developing countries. “The Boabab Children Foundation” is a Ghanaian NGO which has been running a vocational centre for youths for more than 15 years, is located between Kissi and Kwahinkrom. In addition, the African print magazine LoNam and the taz, which present the festival, will be present with an information booth.

     

    The information booths of the bamboo hall will be open daily from 11 am to 6 pm.

    © Baobab

    BAOBAB CHILDREN FOUNDATION

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    is a Ghanaian NGO that has been running a youth training centre in the Central Region between Kissi and Kwahinkrom for 19 years. The training centre includes: The Baobab School for Handicrafts and Traditional Arts and Crafts - an inclusive vocational school for young people who have never been to school, school drop-outs, young people with physical disabilities, but now also junior high school graduates from poor backgrounds. The BAOBAB CULTURE TROUPE and the BAOBAB HOUSE in Cape Coast.

    ONE DOLLAR GLASSES

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    Millions of people worldwide are suffering from defective vision, but cannot afford normal glasses. The organization OneDollarGlasses provides the solution: lightweight, robust and affordable glasses which are produced by local people on a simple bending machine. The goal of OneDollarGlasses is a continuous and independent basic eye care for people in developing countries. In Africa, OneDollarglasses is active in Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso and Malawi.

    © Ombili

    OMBILI

    INFORMATION BOOTH

    One of the oldest ethnic groups of humankind, the SAN – also known as Bushmen – has been robbed of its roots and living space and is in dire straits to lose its cultural and social identity. Ever since there have been people in Africa, they have been hunter-gatherers. They have never settled but have always been peaceful and thus became easy targets of expulsion and neglect. Only the careful attempt to help them lead a settled life and introduce their children to education will enable the SAN to conserve their identity and their tradition. The OMBILI association near Tsumeb is committed to this task.

    © Argerto

    AGERTO E. V.

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    AGERTO e.V. is a non-profit association. It supports and cooperates with the non-governmental organisation AGERTO for sustainable positive development in Togo. It provides support by collecting new and used tools, sewing machines and other useful things, which are necessary for the training of young people in the centres of the NGO AGERTO. The vision of NGO AGERTO in Togo is to enable a high-quality vocational training and good education for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

    © DKMS

    DKMS

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    The DKMS is an international non-profit organization, which dedicated itself to the fight against blood cancer. At present already over 9 million humans are registered at the DKMS as potentially stem cell donor. For many patients the stem cell transplantation is the only chance of survival, but worldwide 40 percent of the searching patients find no suitable donor. We want to change that! Each healthy adult between 17 and 55 years can let itself be registered, no matter which origin. With your registration you give all blood cancer patients the most valuable thing - the hope of a second life. Will you join us?

    © Abiola e.V.

    ABIOLA E.V

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    In Africa many villages still live without electricity. Abiola has made it to its mission to help them and donates solar systems for aid stations, orphanages and women's shelters, training centres and schools in Africa. They are also looking for partners who know and can name appropriate projects. In addition, Abiola operates a donation portal where hundreds of families and aid projects are presented. Here, for example, it is possible to donate a family solar system to a family in Africa for a one-time donation of 35 €.

    © Universität

    UNITENT

     

    Climate and environmental change, loss of biodiversity, resource scarcity, globalization of the markets, worldwide booming megacities, demographic change, transnational migration – facets of Global Change with which all of us are directly or indirectly confronted. But what does Global Change distinctively mean for and in Africa? The University of Würzburg focuses on this central question in this year’s scientific  exhibition and supports this with its own research work. For although the facets of Global Change already stand for themselves: They are all inevitably connected with each other, with the people, and with the social structures on the continent.

    © Sigrid Hempfling

    MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES

    INFORMATION BOOTH

    Médecins sans Frontières was founded in 1971 by a group of French doctors as a private, nongovernmental humanitarian organization. They set themselves the task to provide medical relief in crisis or conflict areas, regardless of religious, ethnical or political interests. In order to preserve this independence, MSF is mainly funded through private donations. In 1999, the organization was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize for their work. MSF provides worldwide medical emergency assistance in more than 70 countries. The majority of the aid projects are currently in Africa.

    ©Tiranke Diallo / Mama Afrika

    S.OLIVER & AFRO PROJECT E. V.

    This year, too, the international fashion and lifestyle company s.Oliver will be supporting the 32nd International Africa Festival. There will be charity events with the non-profit organisation “Afro Project e.V.” (registered association). As in the previous years, visitors can participate in a batik session. The proceeds will go to the “Mama Afrika” association. The aim of the association is to stop the dangerous tradition of female genital mutilation.

  • 01 Mar

    BAMBOO HALL | UNITENT | s. OLIVER

    Bambushalle | © Bugs Steffen

     

    At the 32nd International Africa Festival there will again be our Bamboo Hall, where different initiatives and media will present themselves. The "Freundeskreis Ombili" will again inform about its project with Bushmen in Namibia. In addition, "Abiola", who wants to advance the power supply in Africa, will be represented. The non-profit association "AGERTO" has set itself the task of providing young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds with high-quality vocational training. The organisation "One Dollar Glasses" wants to achieve that there is a continuous and independent basic optical care in developing countries. “The Boabab Children Foundation” is a Ghanaian NGO which has been running a vocational centre for youths for more than 15 years, is located between Kissi and Kwahinkrom. In addition, the African print magazine LoNam and the taz, which present the festival, will be present with an information booth.

     

    The information booths of the bamboo hall will be open daily from 11 am to 6 pm.

    © Baobab

    BAOBAB CHILDREN FOUNDATION

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    is a Ghanaian NGO that has been running a youth training centre in the Central Region between Kissi and Kwahinkrom for 19 years. The training centre includes: The Baobab School for Handicrafts and Traditional Arts and Crafts - an inclusive vocational school for young people who have never been to school, school drop-outs, young people with physical disabilities, but now also junior high school graduates from poor backgrounds. The BAOBAB CULTURE TROUPE and the BAOBAB HOUSE in Cape Coast.

    ONE DOLLAR GLASSES

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    Millions of people worldwide are suffering from defective vision, but cannot afford normal glasses. The organization OneDollarGlasses provides the solution: lightweight, robust and affordable glasses which are produced by local people on a simple bending machine. The goal of OneDollarGlasses is a continuous and independent basic eye care for people in developing countries. In Africa, OneDollarglasses is active in Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso and Malawi.

    © Ombili

    OMBILI

    INFORMATION BOOTH

    One of the oldest ethnic groups of humankind, the SAN – also known as Bushmen – has been robbed of its roots and living space and is in dire straits to lose its cultural and social identity. Ever since there have been people in Africa, they have been hunter-gatherers. They have never settled but have always been peaceful and thus became easy targets of expulsion and neglect. Only the careful attempt to help them lead a settled life and introduce their children to education will enable the SAN to conserve their identity and their tradition. The OMBILI association near Tsumeb is committed to this task.

    © Argerto

    AGERTO E. V.

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    AGERTO e.V. is a non-profit association. It supports and cooperates with the non-governmental organisation AGERTO for sustainable positive development in Togo. It provides support by collecting new and used tools, sewing machines and other useful things, which are necessary for the training of young people in the centres of the NGO AGERTO. The vision of NGO AGERTO in Togo is to enable a high-quality vocational training and good education for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

    © DKMS

    DKMS

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    The DKMS is an international non-profit organization, which dedicated itself to the fight against blood cancer. At present already over 9 million humans are registered at the DKMS as potentially stem cell donor. For many patients the stem cell transplantation is the only chance of survival, but worldwide 40 percent of the searching patients find no suitable donor. We want to change that! Each healthy adult between 17 and 55 years can let itself be registered, no matter which origin. With your registration you give all blood cancer patients the most valuable thing - the hope of a second life. Will you join us?

    © Abiola e.V.

    ABIOLA E.V

    INFORMATION BOOTH

     

    In Africa many villages still live without electricity. Abiola has made it to its mission to help them and donates solar systems for aid stations, orphanages and women's shelters, training centres and schools in Africa. They are also looking for partners who know and can name appropriate projects. In addition, Abiola operates a donation portal where hundreds of families and aid projects are presented. Here, for example, it is possible to donate a family solar system to a family in Africa for a one-time donation of 35 €.

    © Universität

    UNITENT

     

    Climate and environmental change, loss of biodiversity, resource scarcity, globalization of the markets, worldwide booming megacities, demographic change, transnational migration – facets of Global Change with which all of us are directly or indirectly confronted. But what does Global Change distinctively mean for and in Africa? The University of Würzburg focuses on this central question in this year’s scientific  exhibition and supports this with its own research work. For although the facets of Global Change already stand for themselves: They are all inevitably connected with each other, with the people, and with the social structures on the continent.

    © Sigrid Hempfling

    MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES

    INFORMATION BOOTH

    Médecins sans Frontières was founded in 1971 by a group of French doctors as a private, nongovernmental humanitarian organization. They set themselves the task to provide medical relief in crisis or conflict areas, regardless of religious, ethnical or political interests. In order to preserve this independence, MSF is mainly funded through private donations. In 1999, the organization was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize for their work. MSF provides worldwide medical emergency assistance in more than 70 countries. The majority of the aid projects are currently in Africa.

    ©Tiranke Diallo / Mama Afrika

    S.OLIVER & AFRO PROJECT E. V.

    This year, too, the international fashion and lifestyle company s.Oliver will be supporting the 32nd International Africa Festival. There will be charity events with the non-profit organisation “Afro Project e.V.” (registered association). As in the previous years, visitors can participate in a batik session. The proceeds will go to the “Mama Afrika” association. The aim of the association is to stop the dangerous tradition of female genital mutilation.

  • 01 Mar

    CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME

     

     © Daniela Hüttner

     

     © Daniela Hüttner

     

     © Daniela Hüttner

    The children’s programme is a permanent feature of the Africa Festival. This year it will again take place in a circus tent, so that our youngest visitors have their own little area and are protected if it rains. The Senegalese author and musician Ibrahima Ndiaye will lead trough the programme. He knows how to entertain his young audience with his own unique mix of traditional storytelling, pantomime, percussion, dancing and singing.

    The African artistic ensemble Adesa from Ghana will leave the children amazed. This year, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they’ll feature an street parade also at Saturday an Sunday they will show the theatershow "the bored king" in the multi-tent. Children of all ages will also be provided with space and entertainment outside of the children’s tent: “Karibuni Watoto – Welcome, Children!” will be the name of the closed-off children’s area, where there will be a huge amount of games on offer, away from the hustle and bustle of the main festival. We’re pleased that this year, s.Oliver will be taking over the organisation of the children’s area again. The little visitors of the festival will be entertained with crafting and a playground. The slightly older children can be junior designers and create their own T-shirt featuring different motifs and colours at the screen printing station. While the children are busy being creative, the parents can relax in the chill-out area. There will also be an area for breastfeeding and nappy changing.



    The children’s area is open daily from noon to 6:00 pm, and entrance is free of charge for visitors of the festival.

     

    In keeping with the photo exhibition "Kingdoms in Africa", Adesa from Ghana presents the children's music theatre "The Bored King" with lots of dance and acrobatics. At the beginning of the performance children and parents also have the opportunity to ask Queen Onomokor III and King Mensah I from Ghana their questions on the theme "How is it to be a king in Africa".

     

    Bright excitement in the Ghanaian fishing village Kokrobite! For the king, Nana Ansong the third, it's strangely boring. The animals of the jungle, the steppe and the rainforest try to please the king with their songs, dances and funny tricks. Will they succeed? - Find out and come with your children to our great children's program. The play is played on Saturday and Sunday at 3.00 p.m..

     © Bugs Steffen

    © Mario Gerth

  • 01 Mar

    FASHION SHOW

    FASHION

    MADE IN AFRICA

     © Bugs Steffen

    The fashion designer Rama Diaw from Saint Louis (Senegal) has been creating modern African fashion and accessories for a few years now and uses native techniques and materials like batik and indigo fabrics. All materials she uses are purchased directly from Senegal, Mauretania and Mali. Because of her passion for fashion she created the federation “Aissaitou”, which brings together underprivileged dressmakers, sewers and cloth dyers in the countryside to offer them work. In order to support this project, Afro Project again provides a tent and catwalk free of charge and organises a fashion show with the creations of Madame Rama. By mixing wax (a modern fabric) and rabal (a traditional fabric) Diaw combines the subtlety of forms and the robustness of matter. Senegalese and African Women are subtle and persevering. With her new fashion show “Perseverance“ Madame Rama wants to emphasize the status of African Women in society.

    The fashion shows take place on Saturday, Sunday an Monday at 12:00 pm and 04:30 pm next to the Havana Club.

     

  • 01 Mar

    WINE ENCOUNTERS

     

    Due to the great success in 2018, there will again be a tent with a terrace directly on the banks of the river that is exclusively reserved to wine. There are exclusive wines both here in Franconia and in South Africa, after all. Therefore, we have again invited two wineries from the Cape Region in South Africa – “Thandi” and “Cape Dreams” – to present their wines. At the same time, the winery “Am Stein” in Würzburg, a top Franconian winegrower, will be presenting its noble grapes. So there will be the opportunity to taste wines from two different growing areas in direct comparison and to get expert advice.

     

    Ludwig Knoll from the winery „Am Stein” in the orak barrel cellar

     

    Both South African wineries are special because they are predominantly or completely owned by black and coloured people, whereas the South African wine industry still is widely in whitehands. “Cape Dreams” is a company of 100% “black economic empowerment”. “Thandi” is the first wine brand in the world to receive Fairtrade accreditation. Both companies produce wines of the highest quality.

     

    Vernon Henn from "Thandi Wines"

     

    In support of the new South Africa, the Africa Festival has invited these two wine-growing estates to Würzburg. “Weingut am Stein” has been cultivating some of the most prestigious locations in Franconia,currently already in the 5th generation and since 2006 even ecologically. At the Africa Festival 2019 Antonia Knoll, the daughter of the house, will be presenting the winery and its wines. Besides outstanding quality, which secured the winery its membership in Verband deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (the Association of German wine estates with distinction, abbreviated VDP) in 2001, it also stands for ecological winegrowing and remarkable architecture. Opening hours: 3:00 pm – 11:00 pm.

  • 01 Mar

    HAVANA CLUB & COCKTAIL LOUNGE

    The Havana Club is a well-established meeting place at the Africa Festival for many years – it is all about Caribbean rum, cocktails and hot African and Caribbean music. This year, to start off our “Noche Latina”, DJ Walty from Angola will present hot tumba, salsa, cumbia and other latino music on Friday and Saturday. Furthermore, the group Salsamanía with the trumpet player Humberto Zaldivar from Cuba will perform on the first evening at 11:00 pm.  Their danceable program includes different rhythms that express the unbroken vitality of the Caribbean like Mambo, Cha-Cha, Guaguancó, Bomba and Timba. All Salseros, who love to dance are cordially invited! We invited DJs from the Freak de l'Afrique collective for Sunday and Monday. It is a team of DJs and MCs, who share a passion for modern African club sounds like Afrobeats - not to be mistaken with Afrobeat by Fela Kuti, Afro-House, Coupé Décalé and Kuduro. On Sunday DJ Freegah from Cologne will be performing. He is a passionate DJ and MC, who dedicated his work to Afrobeats and Afrohouse. Born and raised in Nigeria, where he worked with various DJs and artists on the African continent, he finally moved to Europe. As a DJ he is a steady member of the Berlin “Freak de l'Afrique” movement. For his performance he will bring two dancers. DJ Wallizz and DJ Nomi will be performing on Monday. They created a unique series of club nights that focuses on current club sounds from all over Africa and also redefines the sound of the clubs. DJ Wallizz is a DJ with African roots in Senegal and the founder and promoter of famous party series like "Cirque de l'Afrique" and "The Afro House Xperience".
    DJ Nomi also lives and loves Afrobeats. She was born in Stuttgart and her parents come from Ghana. Nomi has been living in Berlin for several years now and has established herself nationwide as the "First Lady of Afrobeats". She mixes the hippest Afro-Tunes from the styles Azonto, Coupé Décalé, Kuduo and Ndombolo. The two DJs will bring dancers for their party. Disco time at the  Havana Club is from Friday to Sunday from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am and on Monday from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Our multi-tent also catches the vibe at night - legendary DJ Hi John from Jamaica will celebrate a hot reggae party – and you are invited! Friday to Sunday, from 7:00 pm to midnight.

    FRIDAY

    29. MAY 2020

    SATURDAY

    30. MAY 2020

    SUNDAY

    31. MAY 2020

    MONDAY

    01. JUNE 2020

    7:00 p. m. to midnight

    Multitent

    DJ Hi John from Jamaica

    7:00 p. m. to midnight

    Multitent

    DJ Hi John from Jamaica

    7:00 p. m. to midnight

    Multitent

    DJ Hi John from Jamaica

    9:00 p. m. to 2:00 a. m.

    Havana Club

    DJ Walty from Angola

     

     

    11:00 p. m.

    Havana Club

    Salsamanía

    9:00 p. m. to 2:00 a. m.

    Havana Club

    DJ Walty from Angola

    9:00 p. m. to 2:00 a. m.

    Havana Club

    DJ Freegah from Nigeria

    9:00 p. m. to 11 p. m.

    Havana Club

    DJ Wallizz from Senegal and

     

    DJ Nomi from Ghana

     

     

    Open Air Cocktail-Lounge | © Jan Müller

    OPEN AIR COCKTAIL-LOUNGE

    In our cocktail lounge visitors can enjoy different cocktails from 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Our employee Juan Carlos Albarez will serve original cocktail classics like Mojito and Cuba Libre. A chill-out area with comfortable deckchairs, umbrellas and Cuban music invites visitors to relax.
  • 01 Mar

    TALK IN TENT

     at the Havana Club on 30 May 2020, at 11.30 a.m.

     

    We continue our series „Talk in the tent“. For that purpose we invited interesting people to talk about important issues of Africa.

     

     

    SATURDAY, 30.05.2020, 11:30 am, Havana Club

    Firstly, Sara Nuru will present her book "Roots", which ranked in the Top 20 of the Spiegel bestseller list. Searching for her roots led Sara several times to Ethiopia, the home country of her parents. Through many conversations with the local women, Sara finally found the courage to free herself from the expectations of others. "Today I know that I don't have to wait for confirmation from outside, but that I can only give myself the license to be who I want to be - no one else." In her book, from which she will read, she has also dealt with the topic of development work. In her view, if changes shall be sustainable, it is important that "the people you help have to participate and learn to help themselves at some point - this is the only way to achieve sustainable development in the country".

     

    Together with her sister Sali, she founded 2017 the food start-up “nuruCoffee” and her own association “nuruWomen”. She will present both initiatives. “nuruCoffee” sells fair trade organic coffee from Ethiopia, the country of origin of coffee. To support the project, “nuruCoffee” will be available at all coffee stands of the International Africa Festival this year.

     

    With the association “nuruWomen”, Sara and Sali try to offer the women a perspective, to strengthen their self-esteem and to give them the possibility to build up an independent and self-determined existence. With microcredits and training the sisters support Ethiopian women in realizing their different business ideas so that they can secure an income for themselves and their whole family.

     

    Sara Nuru was born in Bavaria in 1989 and won the 1st place at “Germany`s Next Topmodel” in 2009. Today, Sara is a successful model, travelling throughout Germany as a speaker and has been an Ambassador for "Menschen für Menschen" for years. In addition, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has appointed the Erding-born model as Ambassador for Fair Trade in 2018.

    SUNDAY, 31.05.2020, 11:30 a. m., Havana Club

    The international renowned photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher will talk about "kingdoms in africa". It´s also about "power and powerlessness of today´s Kings".

     

    See the corresponding photo exhibition at the university of Würzburg - https://www.africafestival.org/fotoausstellung/

    Königreiche Afrika

    MONDAY, 01.06.2020 11:30 p. m., Havana Club

     

    32-year-old Julian Egeland studied sports science with the main focus “International sports development and politics“. He will introduce the non-profit organisation “Hoops 4 Hope“. Julian has been actively working for the organisation in the district “Crossroads“ in Cape Town  for several months, which sets up basketball projects in the South of Africa, and will talk about his experiences with young adults.

     

    Furthermore, former national basketball player Marvin Willoughby, who gets in contact with more than 1.000 children each week with his project “Sports without borders“ will be a guest of the festival. Willoughby's mother is from Germany and his father is from Nigeria. He played with Dirk Nowitzki in the national team. Due to his own experiences, he knows about the integrative power of sport, especially at social  flashpoints.

     

    Moreover, Andreas Schiebel will introduce the work of BasKIDball. The concept of BasKIDball is simple and well-tried. It is a programme, which combines sport with youth work. Children and young adults can play basketball for free after school and thus have the opportunity to spend their free time in a useful way: play basketball, meet friends and, simply put, have fun. In doing so, social skills are taught in a playful way.

     

  • 28 Feb

    MEMORIES

    Attention: This is the surrounding-programme for 2018.
    We will publish the programme for 2019 soon.


    Hugh Masekela at the 28th International Afriac Festival | © Günther Klebinger

    Lucky Dube live at the 7th International Africa Festival | © Bugs Steffen

    We would like to take the opportunity and remember those who have characterised the festival but who are no longer with us. Of course the first one to mention is the extraordinary man Nelson Mandela. In 1994 he was elected the first black president of South Africa and already one year later, at the 7th Africa Festival, we were able to show the interesting exhibition “Ezakwantu – bead work from Eastern Cape”. The presentation of the exhibition in Würzburg was the first cultural exchange between the new administration of Mandela and Europe. Nelson Mandela also sent a personal greeting to the festival. In 1996 the Foreign Office assigned the organisers of the Africa Festival to help with the musical programme of the state visit during Nelson Mandela’s first visit to the federal republic. Much to the president’s surprise, he was greeted with local sounds by Miriam Makeba at the park of the Brühl Palaces. We are glad to have met this man – without him the new South Africa wouldn’t have been possible! In 2018 he would have turned 100. Of course we must also name Miriam Makeba “Mama Africa”, the great icon of African music. You could become a part of her unforgettable concerts in the circus tent five times. She performed for the first time at the 8th Africa Festival and for the last time at the 18th Africa Festival when she gave her last official concert here in Würzburg to say farewell to the big concert stages. The previous day her granddaughter Zenzi Makeba Lee was performing for the first time with her grandmother in attendance and for the finale of Mazi’s concert Angeliqué Kidjo and Lokua Kanza paid homage to Makeba and showed her their respect. 10 years ago, on 10 November 2008 the great singer from South Africa passed away. We also want to remember Lucky Dube from South Africa. The great reggae star has been to Würzburg three times. His song “Different Colours - One People“ also became the omnipresent slogan of the festival. Unfortunately he was shot in Johannesburg in the middle of the street on 18 October 2017 at the age of only 41 under unresolved circumstances. Hugh Masekela, who was also from South Africa, captivated the hearts of the festival audience threetimes, in 2000, 2008 and 2016. He received the Africa Fesival “Lifetime Achievement Award 2016”. Two great young artists, who were also politically active, came from the neighbouring country Zimbabwe – they performed at the festival several times. Andy Brown a talented guitar player and his temporary life partner Chiwoniso Maraire who had perfected the art of playing the mbira. He died after a short illness immediately after having turned 50, she passed away tragically at the age of only 37. We also want to be reminiscent of the “King of Congolese rumba“, Papa Wemba from Congo! He performed in Würzburg four times, for the last time in 2011 at the 23rd Africa Festival. With his touching performances he managed to not only capture the hearts of his Congolese fans. With Lobi Traoré, who was known for his almost psychedelic guitar playing, the audience could experience a great Mali blues guitar player in 1996. In 2007, at the 19th Africa Festival, the visitors witnessed Andy Palacio the hero of the Garifuna music from Belize. Unfortunately, they both have also already left us but on our stages were proof of the variety the African music has to offer. We would like to thank everyone that we were able to participate in their music and wisdom, and will have their heritage and message live on at the Africa Festival.

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