Davido to promote African culture with A.W.A.Y Fest

The one-day event is being presented as an annual celebration of African music and culture in the diaspora, drawing big artists from Africa and the US while promoting partnerships among creatives. Tickets will go on sale on 23 September.

Artists programmed for the event include Davido’s fellow Nigerian colleagues Kizz Daniel, Lojay, Oxlade, Wande Coal, Pheelz, Bnxn and Victony as well as South Africa’s Focalistic. More artists are expected to be announced in the coming days.

“A.W.A.Y Festival will promote and foster cultural exportation and collaboration between Africa and the world and there is no time like now,” Davido said on social media. “I can’t wait to have some of my friends from back home share the stage with my friends stateside as we promote the culture!”

A statement reads: “Growing up, we were often made to feel unworthy as Africans, so many of us didn’t want to claim where we were from and in some cases denied our heritage. That’s not the case anymore, we are proud Africans, and we want to invite people to enjoy our culture – our music, food and art. That’s what The A.W.A.Y Festival is all about.”

The maiden A.W.A.Y Festival will add to a growing roster of events designed to promote the Afrobeats genre, such as Afro Nation and Afrochella.

Davido is widely regarded as the poster boy for Afrobeats, and told Rolling Stone in July: “Afrobeats is on the world stage right now. We’re trying to tap into every type of music, but predominantly African music.”

The musician, who was born in Atlanta, recently completed his We Rise By Lifting Others tour in the US and Canada, after surpassing 1 billion streams on Spotify in July.

This week, Davido walked the runway at New York Fashion Week after securing an ambassadorial deal with Puma in December.