This weekend sees the country’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture, Africa Oyé, take over Liverpool’s Sefton Park!
THE OYE STAGE LINE-UP
SATURDAY
12:30: Batala
13:10: AMBA
14:00: Ni Maxine
15:35: ZieZie
17:05: Kimi Djabaté
18:35: FRA!
20:15: Tanya Stephens
SUNDAY
12:30: Staged Kaos
13:10: Black Borough
14:00: Veeby
15:35: Soukustek
17:05: Alogte Oho & His Sounds of Joy
18:35: Grupo Lokito
20:15: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
Topping the bill on the Africa Oyé Saturday is ‘one of Jamaican’s most gifted songwriters’, TANYA STEPHENS, but not before the likes of frafra gospel artist ALOGTE OHO & HIS SOUNDS OF JOY and afrobeats star ZIEZIE grace Sefton Park in what’s set to be a stellar opening day.
Then on Sunday evening Nigerian legend, SEUN KUTI will close this year’s festival with his band EGYPT 80. He is joined on the Sunday line-up by the Congolese and Cuban party band, GRUPO LOKITO and Ghanian highlife newcomers FRA!
Liverpool artists will also join the celebration with emerging stars AMBA and BLACK BOROUGH making up the ‘Oyé Introduces’ programme, and festival fan favourites, STAGED KAOS returning for another special community performance, along with the fantastic drumming troupe, BATALA.
DJ Line-Up
Africa Oyé are set to welcome back a host of familiar faces as well as some brand new talent to DJ at the festival this June.
Kenya’s own DJ Edu (BBC 1Xtra) and the brilliant Emily Dust return once again to the Oyé main stage, with a host of the region’s finest Afro-centric DJs showcasing their sounds across the wider festival site, with the popular ‘Freetown’ stage back for its fifth year, alongside the longstanding ‘Trenchtown’ Stage.
CHECK OUT THE FULL DJ LINE-UP AND SET TIMES IN THE FESTIVAL BROCHURE – CLICK HERE
Oyé Active Zone
On both days of the festival, in association with Liverpool’s leading world dance charity Movema, the Oyé Active Zone (OAZ) will return to provide a range of dance, song and drumming from the African Diaspora for the whole family. People of all ages, abilities and backgrounds will have the chance to the activities throughout the weekend, all led by top local and international companies.
As well as the high energy dance workshops provided and curated by Movema, other activities on offer include Capoeira For All, Family Yoga, Afro Cuban Cabaret and salsa classes!
CHECK OUT THE FULL OYE ACTIVE ZONE LINE-UP AND SET TIMES IN THE FESTIVAL BROCHURE – CLICK HERE
The Oyé Village & Traders
The Oyé Village features authentic African, Mediterranean, Asian, English and Caribbean cuisine, traditional French crepes, baguettes, paninis, fresh fruit smoothies, cookies, hot donuts and pastries, and fresh ground coffee, stalls selling everything from arts, crafts, hats, clothing, jewellery and accessories, as well as face painting.
We will also have drinking water taps on the festival site this year; bring your reusable bottles and just ask a steward where the nearest tap is!
Kids Area & Things To Do
At the festival this year there are plenty of things for children and families to get involved in! The Oyé Village features storytelling, face painting, drumming workshops, arts and crafts and so much more; all delivered by top local and international companies. Kids of all ages will also have the chance to participate in our FREE music, dance, art and craft workshops.
Free workshops also feature elsewhere on the festival site, with the LFC Foundation offering free sporting activities for children and families; Mr Silky Skills teaching some football freestyle; bath bomb making with ethical cosmetics producers LUSH; and then arts meets science with workshops from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Plastic Tactics and lots more.
The ever-popular John Collins Fun Fairs will also be on-site at Africa Oyé with rides and entertainment.
Access and BSL
Africa Oyé is striving to make the festival more accessible for all their fans. Once again the festival will feature an Accessible Viewing Platform, British Sign Language (BSL) on stage to accompany the festival acts, as well as a dedicated Access Tent with BSL workshops.
The on-stage high-definition video wall assists those with visual impairments and there will be increased stewarding around the accessible toilets.
GET ALL THE ACCESS INFO YOU NEED FOR THE FESTIVAL – CLICK HERE
GETTING TO THE FESTIVAL
Please take care when travelling to and from the festival. There are many ways to get to the festival including walking, cycling or using Arriva, Merseyrail and Merseytravel services. If you are driving to Africa Oyé please bear in mind that the festival site will be very busy, so parking will be limited.
Why not choose a healthier and greener option by cycling or walking, or utilising public transport where possible?
By Bus
There are a large variety of buses that will take you to Sefton Park on Saturday and Sunday.
Service 75 from Liverpool ONE Bus Station or Great Charlotte Street to Halewood operates from every 15 minutes on Saturday, every 30 minutes on Sunday. Services 80 and 80A from Liverpool ONE Bus Station or Great Charlotte Street to Speke & Liverpool Airport combined services operate from every 20 minutes on Saturday, and the 80A runs from every 20 minutes on Sunday.
Other services that serve Sefton Park:
Service 26 / 27 – Sheil Road Circular
Service 60 – Aigburth Vale – Bootle
Service 76 – Liverpool ONE – Halewood
82A – Liverpool ONE – Murdishaw via LJLA
500 – Liverpool ONE – Liverpool Airport Express Service
For more timetables and bus journey planning visit www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-west.
By Bike
If you are cycling to Africa Oyé, please see the map/follow the directions on the website below. You can always use Citybike, the 24 hour on-street bike hire service, providing bicycles for hire for residents and visitors from an increasing number of automated stations across Liverpool City Centre and the surrounding area. Visit citybikeliverpool.co.uk
By Rail
Getting the train to Oyé couldn’t be easier with Merseyrail. Sefton Park is in walking distance from St Michaels station on the Hunts Cross line. Take the Northern Line towards Hunts Cross and get off at St Michaels. Walk down Belgrave Road to Aigburth Road, then cross the road onto Lark Lane and walk the full length of Lark Lane and you’ll come to Sefton Park. The walk is about 1 mile.
For ticket prices visit Merseyrail
Alternatively, you can plan your journey using the Merseyrail App, and also get live departure times and directions to each station. The Merseyrail App is available to download for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android.
By Road
Set your SatNav to L17 3AD. At Sefton Park turn onto Croxteth Drive and you will arrive at the Oyé site and a drop off point.
HELP KEEP OYÉ FREE
This year, more than ever, with increased infrastructure costs across all areas of the event, your support is vital to the longevity of the festival. There are numerous ways you can help support Oyé, including:
– Donate via the africaoye.com homepage
– Become a ‘Friend of Oye’ – click here for more info
– Buy official Oyé merchandise online or at the festival
– Buy refreshments at one of the Oyé Inns
– Donate whatever you can in the Oyé charity buckets and at the contactless donation stations
– Join us at our official after parties
– Volunteer at the festival
If we all do just one of these things, it’ll be a great step towards keeping Oyé alive and well for years to come. We are a registered charity and as such, all proceeds are reinvested into the organisation.
The 2023 Africa Oyé festival will take place on 17th and 18th June, 2023 in Liverpool’s Sefton Park from 12:30pm til 9:30pm both days and entrance is FREE – you do not need a ticket.
For more information on the festival and other events held across the country by Africa Oyé please visit africaoye.com
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