Freetown Music Festival returns

A celebration of music, art, film, food and fashion, the Freetown Music Festival will feature a selection of acts from the country. Their performances will take place on two stages. 

The first of these stages, named Africell’s Bai Bureh Stage, will host some of the biggest names in Afropop and hip hop. By contrast, Mutzig's Mammy Yoko Stage will feature spoken word poetry, comedy and music.

The festival will also host a dance competition, an art installation, a variety of delectables and a film screening.

“The festival intends to use the event as a platform for the creative youth of Sierra Leone to express, engage and connect,” the organisers said. “Up-and-coming musicians from youth organisation Way Out will perform on the main stage, and social issues affecting the young generation will also be featured as part of a discussion series scheduled to happen on festival days.”

Expected performers include Shadow Boxxer, Colabo, Empress P, Markmuday, Drizilik, Shuaibu, JayArr, Xzu B, ArkMan, Jooel, Wahid, Block Jones, Match P and Daniel Bangura.

Last year, the festival was postponed and its activities deferred. Sierra Leone Music Week, which saw local acts work with musicians from Iceland and the UK, took place instead. Now that the festival is set to return, the organisers expressed their delight about its impact since it was conceived.

“The Freetown Music Festival is back for the third time,” they said. “We are so grateful for all the progress made over the past years and we look forward to making a bigger and more lasting impact as we go along. To all our supporters and well-wishers we say: 'Tenki tenk and meh we continue for join han for make a better Sierra Leone [Thanks and let's join hands to make Sierra Leone better].”

For more information, follow Freetown Music Festival's Facebook page.