The 37th edition of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, which runs July 11 to 23, will again bring an eclectic mix of Pan-African music and culture to select indoor venues as well as outdoors in Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles.
The official indoor opening of the festival takes place July 12 at MTelus and features Angélique Kidjoto. The 62-year-old singer and five-time Grammy Award-winner from the Republic of Benin was once called “Africa’s premier diva” by Time magazine. She further cemented that status with her memorable performance during the opening ceremonies of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“We’re very lucky to have her because she’s not really touring in Canada,” said Nuits d’Afrique’s executive director Suzanne Rousseau during a recent interview. “She has performed a few times at the festival, most recently in 2013, but now she’s become such an icon, representing many things for Africa.”
What follows is a stream of indoor concerts divided into eight series with six days of free outdoor shows. And the glue that binds the whole thing together is, ironically, variety. African music and culture long ago crossed the Atlantic through the slave trade and the festival fully embraces the rich contributions from the diaspora.
“We make sure to program for different tastes and different generations,” said Rousseau, adding that the team of organizers tried to make sure that as many cultures, countries and musical styles as possible were represented — a goal initiated by the festival’s president and founder, Lamine Touré, who follows the same philosophy at his legendary Club Balattou on St. Laurent Blvd.
“His recipe was always, ‘We must travel — through Africa, the Caribbean and in Latin America,’ and we make sure that we respect that recipe in the festival,” Rousseau continued. “So, we make sure that we travel and the people who come from these countries or who have travelled there will find the music that they would like to hear. And that’s what makes this festival so special. It’s the mix of the cultures that we have on stage as well as in the audience.”
In addition to Kidjoto, on July 13, Les Grands Événements Series will present Blick Bassy, a Bassa language singer from Cameroon. “He is also an icon and someone that is very respected. His music is a little more avant-garde and he also works and stands for a lot of environmental causes.”
This year’s festival will also shine a deserving spotlight on women artists, with a series called Les Femmes Du Monde, taking place outdoors at L’Esplanade Tranquille in part of what is called Le Village des Nuits D’Afrique. Along with the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles, the area, now augmented with two outdoors stages, will be open from July 18-23 with enough room to present not only more musical programming, but more cultural features and activities as well.
Festival founder and president, Lamine Touré.
Each day will include workshops put on by a professional dancer from a different country; music from a variety of DJs; concerts, and intimate tête-à-têtes with artists who will talk about their instruments and the rhythms they play. There will also be a myriad of artisans and vendors at the expanded Timbuktu Market as well as food from Montreal restaurants that specialize in African, Caribbean and Latin American dishes.
In the end, Rousseau summed it up by saying: “You come, you eat, you listen to great shows, and you meet new friends from different countries.”
For tickets, and more information, visit www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com/en
