Africa Utopia Back for a 6th Annual Extravaganza

Africa Utopia, running on its sixth year, is back in Southbank Centre for a weekend of entertainment and knowledge. This annual festival aims to immerse and to expose Londoners, as well as people from different cultures, to Africa’s rich culture, arts, and heritage.

Initially held in 2012, Africa Utopia was founded as a celebration dedicated to the African culture and arts. It advocates the premise of how the ideas of the rapidly changing and highly dynamic continent of Africa could help the rest of the world to change for the better. It points out the huge influence of Africa to the world. It is a gathering of some of the best and iconic African artists, entertainers, visionaries, and other leading experts to showcase their respective talents, ideas, and expertise.

Championed by Baaba Maal, a singer and human rights advocate from Senegal, and a significant collaborator of the event, Africa Utopia features different performances in the field of arts and entertainment. The event shows how Africa creates an immense impact on how we view art, music, food, community, technology, fashion, and other aspects of their unique culture. Africa Utopia helps us explore Africa’s influence in our thinking when it comes to the topics of race, gender, sexuality, and the society we live in.

This year, Africa Utopia, scheduled on the 19th to the 22nd of July, will feature different performances from a diversity of art forms, including music, film, theatre, literature, dance, comedy, and fashion. There are also various workshops and pop-up performances you can enjoy for free. Informative discussions and debates will talk about the various ideas and concepts inherent to the African ideals. While being a resident at hotel Edward Paddington London, you will also see some activities that will also require audience participation.

Each act and event will be held centerstage on different venues throughout the Southbank Centre. The highlights of this year’s Africa Utopia include the following performances:

• the musical stylings of the award-winning husband and wife duo, Amadou and Mariam, featuring their eighth album, La Confusion
• Jazz-infused concert from the Chineke! Orchestra, together with conductor Wayne Marshall and pianist Stewart Goodyear
• Premiere screening in the UK of Hello, Rain — a film adaptation of Hello, Moto, the critically-acclaimed short story authored by Nnedi Okorafor.
• And more!

The four-day celebration will be filled with worthwhile activities and performances. For those who will be attending Africa Utopia for the first time, it is a must to stay over the weekend and to experience the activities and performances as much as you can. Thus it is advisable to check in at one of the hotels near Paddington London for easier access to the event.