SA: Lira to headline Bassline Fest on 25 May

The festival, with support from the Department of Sport Arts and Culture (DSAC) in association with Castle Lite, seeks to celebrate Africa Day through music. The event will be Lira’s first performance after two years of recovery from a stroke suffered in Frankfurt, Germany. She will be joined by more artists who will be announced at a later stage.

“People were initially interested in my recovery journey and as time went by they started asking when I would perform again,” Lira said. “I have been practising to perform as part of my recovery and have come to accept that the old Lira is gone. I wondered who the new Lira would be and have been getting to know her and feel ready to share her with the public.

“I am so excited and looking forward to being on stage again to perform at Bassline Fest Africa Day celebration on Saturday 25 May 2024. What makes this performance extra special is that not only are we, in South Africa, celebrating 30 years of democracy, but we are also celebrating the new Lira as well as the Bassline’s 30th Anniversary.”

Despite the stroke, Lira said she felt extremely lucky to not be physically injured, but acknowledged that her brain suffered damage. “I speak slower and need to learn to stay calm as stress affects my ability to communicate. I’m still recovering and I will get better with time and I’m so grateful for that.”

Bassline Fest organisers paid tribute to DSAC, Castle Lite and the Music In Africa Foundation for the continued support.

“What all this support does is aid the live music industry as a whole as it creates work for the full live music industry ecosystem from production, marketing, performing service providers and artists,” reads a statement. “It also creates a place for festivalgoers to escape while getting entranced by the artistic talent and to get entertained and have some fun.”

Bassline Fest’s Paige Holmes said the focus of this year’s festival is celebrating the strength of women by recognising mothers and sisters who are resilient, courageous, creative and tenacious. “This year is the year of gratitude to all the women. For us, these women represent our shared continent’s resilience, nurturing, courage, creativity and tenacity,” she said.

On his part, Bassline Fest’s Brad Holmes said he was delighted to have Lira back at the festival. “We welcome Lira back on stage as we celebrate many occasions,” he said. “Lira’s return, Africa Day, 30 years of our Democracy and 30 years of Bassline. Bassline has been promoting original music from the whole of our African Continent since September 1994.”

The event will begin at 3pm until 11pm. Tickets to the Bassline Fest can be purchased here.