BAT Centre, Views @ Twenty5, Blue Lagoon Beach, Durban: 25, 26, 27 May 2018
Durban: The daily line-up of astonishing international and local musical acts is now available in order to plan ahead for the fourth annual Zakifo Music Festival, which comes to Durban on 25, 26 and 27 May, and promises a wide-ranging line-up of boundary-breaking, cutting-edge musicians from across the African continent and beyond.
Always wanting to stay fresh and relevant, this year the festival will be presented in a slightly different format from previous years. Rather than utilising one festival site throughout, Zakifo is packaged as a series of linked stand-alone events taking place at three vastly different Durban venues, each offering a unique experience: the BAT Centre, Views @ Twenty5, and Blue Lagoon Beach.
To facilitate planning, the musical line-up for each concert has been announced, with full details on the Zakifo website.
The line up of performers this year is listed by venue.
Friday 25 May – BAT Centre – from 5.30pm
Sekou Kouyate (Guinea) – multi-award-winning musician; regarded as one of the world’s best kora players
Nick Hamman (RSA) – 5FM DJ and host of the Hamman Time weekday show and the 5FM Top 40
Elida Almeida (Cape Verde) – Cape Verdean beats fused with Latino energy
Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse (RSA) – South African musical legend and funk, pop and soul artist
Friday 25 May – Views @ Twenty5 from 6pm
Baraka (RSA) – blending deep house, kwaito, jazz, future soul and world sounds with the intention to create an atmosphere of love, inviting upliftment and transformation
Sainty Baby (RSA) – Pietermaritzburg-based DJ and producer and graduate of Soul Candi Institute of Music; founder of the Food Fashion Music event and radio co-host and co-producer on Vuma FM
ByLwansta (RSA) – ByLwansta constructs conversational raps laden with brutal honesty and vivid story-telling, delivered in a style that emanates a soulful and mellow vigor
K-$ (RSA) – DJ and internet sensation; plays throwback disco, funk and soul-heavy DJ sets
DJ Doowap (RSA) – live mix DJ playing a selection of bass, dubstep and trap
Nasty C (RSA) – easily one of the most exciting acts on the South African hip-hop scene; born and bred in Durban, at 21 Nasty C has carved out his own niche
DJ Lag (RSA) – the Gqom King; pioneer of iconic Durban house sub-genre gqom
Saturday 26 May – Views @ Twenty5 from 6pm
Oki Dub Ainu Band (Japan) – blending the music of the Ainu people of Japan with dub, reggae and afrobeat grooves
Your Uncle Garry – DJ set.
Nathalie Natiembé (Réunion) – beloved Réunion singer and talented performer; creates an amalgam of rock, funk and traditional Creole music
Linda Meyer – DJ set.
Flavia Coelho (Brazil) – a hybrid blend of samba and bossa nova sounds and reggae and hip hop rhythms
Phatstoki – DJ set.
BCUC (RSA) – “indigenous funky soul”; a politically-charged and truly South African sound
SoKool – DJ set.
Late-night all-woman DJ platform with a rotating line-up that exists to create a regular platform for female DJs and artists to practice, incubate, exchange, and expose; an experiment in amplifying feminine energy on dance floor. Featuring Your Uncle Garry; Linda Meyer; Phatstoki and SoKool
Sunday 27 May – Blue Lagoon Beach from 2pm til 9.30pm
The Sun Xa Experiment (RSA) – world music influenced by jazz, hip hop and traditional and ancestral sounds
Nakhane (RSA) – SAMA award-winner and rising star in South African music
Guy Buttery and Kanada Narahari (RSA/India) – South African guitar virtuoso and accomplished Indian sitar player; driven by their mutual curiosity in each other’s diverse musical worlds. Guy Buttery is Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year award winner this year for Music.
Alice Phoebe Lou (RSA/Germany) – independent blues/folk artist from Cape Town, currently based in Berlin
Siseko Pame (RSA) – ethno-soul laced with Xhosa folk harmonies, violin, and Pame’s emotive, earthy voice
Dub Inc (France) – reggae/dancehall band from Saint-Éttienne; fuse classic roots reggae with dub, dancehall, ska, hip-hop and African influences
Femi Koya (Nigeria/RSA) – “the new face of the African Renaissance”; a rich blend of afrobeat, highlife and Sophiatown-influenced jazz
Aloe Blacc (USA) – chart-topping soul/funk singer and songwriter. Wrote the hits “The Man” and “I Need a Dollar” and featured on Avicii’s “Wake Me Up”
The festival kicks off on Friday night with a glamorous opening event, a fundraising concert for the Nelson Mandela Foundation held at the BAT Centre in honour of Madiba’s Centenary year. The theme is for the evening is Afro-formal elegance. This event is ticketed separately from the rest of the festival, with a percentage of the proceeds being donated to the Foundation.
From there the festivities move to Views @ Twenty5 in Morningside for the rest of Friday night and again on Saturday night. This exceptional bespoke rooftop venue offers panoramic views of the city of Durban, the perfect backdrop for both evenings’ performances. Friday’s lineup offers some of the country’s best in hip hop and electronic music, and Saturday brings prominent international performers from Japan, Brazil and Réunion Island alongside South African act BCUC’s “indigenous funky soul”.
Answering the call of the Indian Ocean, Zakifo returns to Blue Lagoon Beach on Sunday 27 May. This family-friendly final day of the festival offers local food and market stalls and a Growler Station beer tent serving Zakifo’s signature lager, made by Durban Brewing Co.
Each year a host of satellite events, workshops, and parties linked to the festival occur in the weeks leading up to the main event. These industry-focused events act as a platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences, a necessary bridge between established industry professionals and up-and-coming artists.
Zakifo would like to thank their partners The Department of Arts and Culture, Air Austral, eThekwini Municipality, Durban Tourism, Japan Foundation and the French Institute of South Africa for their continued support of the festival.
Tickets are available via Nutickets:
R500 – 3-day weekend pass (excl. Madiba concert)
R300 – Friday Madiba concert – BAT Centre
R150 – Friday pass – Views @ Twenty5
R150 – Saturday pass – Views @ Twenty5
R300 – Sunday pass – Blue Lagoon Beach
A full event breakdown is available on www.zakifo.com
Instagram: @zakifofest
Twitter: @zakifomusikfest
Facebook: @zakifofest
Please note – the line-up and artist schedule may change ahead of the event – please check the Zakifo website for regular updates.
