Six Black Festivals You Have To Attend This Summer
Scene of Jamaica and Trinidad from Afro Soca Love in London. (Courtesy of MOYE)
The anticipation for Memorial Day Weekend 2021 has taken on a much larger significance than in years past due to how COVID-19 either postponed or canceled our summer plans for 2020. Along with the dream destinations many of us were unable to visit, the endless amount of in-person festivals that never took place denied us of all the food, the art and the live music we definitely needed post-quarantine. This year is different. Better prepared venues are equipped to safely accommodate guests to the annual events all of us are yearning to head to once again. Here are six in-person (and virtual) festivals you need to be in attendance for this summer.
Partiers keeping in step and rhythm at Afro Soca Love. (Courtsey of Eventbrite)
Afro Soca Love - Washington, D.C. - June 18-20
Afro Soca Love, the moveable Pan-African party that had everyone winding their waists in Oakland and Los Angeles, is what you’ve been waiting for after enduring those long winter months. Coming to Washington in time for a Juneteenth weekend celebration, this two-day DJ-led mix of sounds blends Soca, Afrobeat, Reggae, Dancehall, Salsa, Reggaeton, Merengue, Zouk and Kompa will keep you dancing and vibing all night and well into the next morning. This event is also a black-owned business marketplace full of vendors giving you the best of the region's best entrepreneurs of color. Karma, one of the city’s premier nightclubs and venues, will host a soundstage for the event that will welcome you back to being social with your fellow partiers. Don’t wait. Tickets are going quick.
(Courtsey of Essence.com)
Essence Festival 2021 - Virtual - June 24-27 / July 2-4
For all those wondering if there will be an Essence Festival 2021, the answer is a definite yes--but it will be online. We hear you, black travel community. We’d love to be in New Orleans right along with you, dining at some of the best restaurants imaginable and strolling through Bourbon Street enjoying life this summer, but this two-weekend virtual event will be filled with live panel discussions and pre-recorded content based on the topics of Fashion, Celebrity, Beauty, Wellness, Hair, Love and Wealth & Power are just some of the areas that will be covered in this dynamic cultural event meant for you. Currently, there is no list of the live performances of who will keep you dancing wherever you are, but we believe it will not disappoint when you see that last year’s virtual festival line up that featured acts like Nas, Patti LaBelle, Raphael Saadiq, Estelle, Rapsody, Andra Day and Bruno Mars. Whoever’s on stage will definitely add to this party you don’t want to miss.
The Afronation crowd cheering under the summer sun. (Photo Courtesy of Afronation.)
Afronation - The Algarve, Portimao, Portugal - July 1-3
The month of July starts off perfectly for all of our music lovers on the international black travel circuit with Afronation. Dubbed as ‘the world’s number one beach festival’, this big stage gettogether will have your head nodding and hands in the air with Iberian Peninsula sand that gets three hundred days of sunlight moving between your toes as you groove. Only in its third year of setting up shop on Portugal’s southern coast, Afronation has continued to bring the thump, sway and groove with his previous series of headlining acts. This year’s lineup is thick with talent. Megan The Stallion, Burna Boy, Rick Ross, Beenie Man and over fifty more artists looking to keep you basking in the glow knowing you made the right choice in going there. The party doesn’t stop there. You will find parties all over the beach at this festival before and after the sun goes down and the lights start coming up.
Some of the styles on the scene at AfroPunk 2019 in Paris. (Courtesy of AllThePrettyBirds)
AfroPunk Fest 2021 - Paris, France - July 10-11
AfroPunk remains the festival that prides itself on the raw, frenetic energy seen in its eclectic lineups of uncompromising artists who have performed in Brooklyn’s Commodore Barry Park in Fort Greene since its start in 2005 and other international venues. This annual decibel-testing summer ritual that attracts the gamut of all creatives of color was silenced stateside and in Bahia last year due to the pandemic. Though the AfroPunk Brooklyn and AfroPunk Atlanta events have yet to release any confirmed dates, AfroPunk Fest 2021 Paris is very much slated to go on as planned with acts leading the way in the genres of Grime, Dance, Trap, Hip-Hop and Funk. We are still awaiting the actual list of performers, but we can expect the impressive La Seine Musicale will be a great venue for the performers selected to lead this two-day-long banger that will keep The City of Lights rocking during each set. With the music comes the undeniable presence of eye-opening cinema, stand-out fashion, prismatic visual art and savory dishes to spoil all five of your senses. And if none of this makes you want to buy a ticket--you’ll be in Paris for a summer weekend. Win-win.
A small sample of what you can expect at the Chale Wote Festival. (Courtesy of Hadithi.Africa)
Chale Wote Festival - Accra, Ghana - August 20-29
There are many prime traveling destinations all over The Continent that go overlooked, but very few places have received the spotlight as much as Ghana. In recent months, the black travel universe has swooned in form all over to appreciate all the culture and history of this stunning West African coast country during their pilgrimages. For some, these trips back east over the Atlantic were homecomings of sorts. The Chale Wote Festival is another reason to make the trip to Ghana. There are so many vibes at this ten-day festival that will show you some of the nation’s historical sites and cultural must-sees before the event begins. You will be able to blend into this artistic happening that fuses Ghana’s regions with colors and themes only seen at this festival.
The culturally artistic pageantry of the masquerades you will see in London this summer at The YAM Carnival. (Courtesy of The YAM Carnival)
YAM Carnival 2021 - London, England - August 28
London is calling out the diaspora to come to be a part of what many consider to be ‘the melting pot of black culture’--The YAM Carnival. (Yes. It’s as amazing as it sounds.) This event held in Clapham Common amidst the stately brick homes of Great Britain is defined by the Congolese and Nigerian heritages on display. Traditional Dogan, Ijele, Eyo, Egungun, Iggunuko, Agbogho Mmuo and Pende masquerades celebrating the harvesting of the beloved yam will cover this part of South London. Live music from all corners of blackness will showcase the lavish diversity within our culture across three small venues with great headliners ready to perform: Carnival Stage (Kelahni, NSG), Afrika Shrine Alive (Ari Lennox, Femi Kuti) and Afrotronic (Honey Dijon, DJ Lag) with more acts being added to the list. Vendors giving you the best in sumptuous West African fare will be on-site providing great dishes and satisfying your yam-loving needs. This one-day event is the perfect addition to your black travel plans if you’re looking to close out the summer right.