Afropop’s Summer Festival Roundup
As part of our Summer Concert Preview, we’ve pulled together a list of the best Afropop friendly concerts going down across the country. So if one of these is near you? Consider making the trip, and you’re likely to catch some GREAT music.
GrassRoots is a four day music festival held annually in upstate New York. Musicians represent genres such as bluegrass, reggae, country, Americana, jam band, rock ‘n’ roll, hip-hop and rockabilly.
SummerStage is a free festival of the arts held annually in parks across the city. This year’s festival will include over 100 music, theater and dance shows.
Celebrate Brooklyn! is one of New York’s leading summer cultural attractions. Held annually in Prospect Park, the festival promotes Brooklyn’s performing arts scene and attracts upwards of 250,000 attendees.
Out of Doors is the country’s longest-running free outdoor festival. Spanning three weeks, it celebrates world-class music, dance and spoken word at the Lincoln Center plazas.
Midsummer Night Swing is one of New York’s great open-air dance parties. Dance bands from around the world represent genres from swing and salsa to R&B and disco in Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
Latin Alternative Music Conference
LAMC is a major conference that showcases Latin music from rock, hip-hop and electronica scenes. It’s a six day event that provides networking opportunities to alternative artists and labels. Concerts, parties and exhibitions are held at venues throughout New York.
Smithsonian Folk Life Festival – Kenya
The festival is an international exposition held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This year’s Kenya: Mambo Poa program will celebrate the people of Kenya and their culture. Festivalgoers will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from Kenyan craftspeople, athletes, dancers, musicians, and more.
Nuits D’Afrique celebrates old and new, local and international artists. For eleven days, festival goers experience music from diverse cultural backgrounds–from Montreal to Timbuktu, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Every summer, Chicago’s Grant Park is transformed into an urban dance space. This year’s event will feature 44 live bands, and attendees can take part in dance lessons beforehand–for free!
Every summer, over 100,000 people come together to celebrate the racial and ethnic diversity of metro Detroit. Musical genres represented include pop, Celtic, soul, indie rock, bluegrass and Latino.
Samba Mapangala on Tour
Maryland Traditions Festival, Baltimore
Lowell Folk Festival, Lowell, MA
The Congolese legend, Samba Mapangala is touring the U.S. this summer, making appearances at festivals throughout the country. Follow him from one festival to the next for an enriching musical experience!
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, ¡Globalquerque! will be finishing off this year’s summer on a celebratory note. Taking place at Albuquerque’s National Hispanic Cultural Center, the festival takes place on September 19 and 20, the two last days of the season. Their lineup this year features groups from Ethiopia, Argentina, La Réunion and Mauritania, among other talented artists from around the globe.
globalFEST will again host a stage at this year’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, held for four days every June in Manchester, Tennessee. Groundbreaking artists will include Seun Anikulapo Kuti and The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar with special guests Billy Martin, Marc Ribot and DJ Logic.
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