Music from all over Africa will be reverberating around our building this weekend with dance, Afro-Welsh performances, workshops, an art/photography exhibition and much more. Dathliad Cymru Affrica Festival is a true celebration of Africa in Wales! 

The weekend will be a celebration of the richness of diversity in Wales, specifically African diaspora culture and arts. 

Here are three reasons to come down and experience the festival here from 10 - 11 June. 

Incredible live music from Africa 

Enjoy sublime music from some of Africa’s most talented musicians including Kanda Bongo Man, Rasha, Bassekou Kouyate and many more. There’ll also be performances from Wales and UK-based artists, including Cardiff’s favourite party starters Afro Cluster as well as The Successors of the Mandingue All Stars and Eve Goodman who will be performing a special collaboration that brings the folk traditions of West Africa and Wales together in a single piece, celebrating the ancient cultural traditions and languages of their countries of origin.   

Learn a new skill in a workshop  

Across the weekend, there’ll be drumming, dance and spoken word workshops for those who fancy learning something new. There’s a 20% discount on the workshops for festival ticket holders and they are free for under 25s. The workshops are as follows: 

Sat 10 June  

Djembe, Djembe, Djembe (10.45am, 11.15am, 11.45am and 12.15pm) 

Master drummers from The Successors of the Mandingue will lead four 30-minute djembe workshops. 

West African Dance Workshop with Live Drumming (1.45pm) 

West African master dancer Oumar Almamy Camara will facilitate this session accompanied by live rhythms led The Successors of the Mandingue All Stars. 

Sun 11 June 

Ethiopian Dance Workshop with Adi Detemo (11am) 

Join Adi Detemo for an energetic Ethiopian dance workshop. 

Voice & Body Percussion Workshop with Liz Ikamba (1pm) 

Join Liz Ikamba for a fun workshop where you’ll learn tools for in the moment, collaborative music making using just your voice and your body. 

Short Film Screening & Spoken Word Workshop with Ali Goolyad (4.30pm) 

Poet, actor and community activist Ali Goolyad will be hosting a spoken word workshop along with a screening of his short film collaboration with Dafydd Iwan. Free for festival ticket holders. 

Be inspired by Welsh and African art 

As you enter Wales Millennium Centre, in our foyer and café bar area Ffwrnais, you can find an exhibition of outstanding community art and photography created by Welsh and African artists. Make sure you spend some time checking out these inspiring works of art. 

Dathliad Cymru-Affrica Festival is brought to you by The Successors of the Mandingue, Neuadd Ogwen, Butetown Arts & Culture Association (BACA) and Rahim El Habachi.