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Africa Oyé announces FULL MUSIC LINE-UP for 2023 Festival in Sefton Park!
Africa Oyé Festival are delighted to announce the final wave of live acts for their 31st annual celebration of music and culture this June!
Acts representing Ghana, D.R Congo, Cuba, and Colombia are included in the reveal.
Headlining this year’s festival are Afrobeat superstar, Seun Kuti and pioneering dancehall singer, Tanya Stephens. They are also joined on the line-up by British/Congolese rapper and singer, ZieZie whose addition to the line-up will delight his 100,000+ followers on TikTok.
Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney, said of the announcement, “We’re really pleased with the line-up for this year ‘s festival and how it reflects our ongoing mission to showcase the music of Africa and the wider Diaspora. Artists from Liverpool to Accra and London to Havana will take over Sefton Park this summer for a truly international celebration.”
On 17th & 18th June 2023, thousands in Sefton Park will celebrate the music and culture of Africa with two free days of fantastic music, workshops, DJs, dance, food stalls and a range of traders in the Village.
This final line up announcement includes Alogte Oho- the number one Frafra gospel artist from within the explosive music scene of Bolgatanga in Northern Ghana. Accompanied by his powerful female choir, the group is driven by super-tight horns and vintage keyboards; Alogte Oho & his Sounds of Joy (pictured above) will ‘surprise, delight and inspire’.
Creating ‘a modern-day cocktail of two of the great world musics’, Grupo Lokito will be fusing blistering contemporary Congolese grooves with the fire of Cuban music on the festival Sunday afternoon. Audiences can expect glorious melodious vocals, soaring guitars, and lilting keyboards from this exciting group.
Describing their music as “a combination of life experiences, dreams and joys that have fed off of our direct connection to Africa”, Soukustek are a group born under the gaze of the Caribbean Sea surrounding the Coastal city of Cartagena de Indias in Colombia. Also playing the Sunday afternoon of the festival, the band combines the rhythms and the sounds of guitars that arrived from Africa in the 70s and seamlessly blends them with the flavour of the Colombian Caribbean.
The full line-up announcement also features Liverpool’s own, Ni Maxine. The neo-jazz singer’s performance on Saturday afternoon will mark the first time an artist from our Oyé Introduces programme has been invited back to be part of the main stage line-up, such was the acclaim following her performance in 2022.
Launched in 2015, ‘Oyé Introduces’ sees local artists open the musical programme on both days of the festival – following community performances from Merseyside cultural organisations – giving some of the area’s brightest young talent the chance to share the stage with international stars. This year, the programme sees R&B vocal harmony group, AMBA and South Liverpool rap trio, Black Borough take the stage at Sefton Park.
The 2023 Africa Oyé festival will take place on 17th and 18th June in Liverpool’s Sefton Park on the Review Field from 12:30pm til 9:30pm both days. Entrance is FREE and you do not need a ticket.
We Speak Events
Dr. Jamal H. Bryant and The JHB Movement to Host Strategic Town Hall Revealing the Next Phase of the TargetFast Movement
As national momentum continues to build around the TargetFast movement, Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and founder of The JHB Movement, will host a high-impact, invite-only TargetFast Town Hall on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 7:00 PM EST in Stonecrest, Georgia.
This private strategic gathering marks the conclusion of the first 40 days of TargetFast.org — a bold initiative launched on March 3, 2025, calling for a community-wide economic divestment from Target in response to its quiet rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. As a critical moment for reflection, recalibration, and media engagement, the town hall will unveil the movement’s next phase and reaffirm its call for corporate accountability. Special guests that will be speaking at the event include:
Dr. Jamal H. Bryant – Senior Pastor & Movement Leader
Dr. Karri Bryant – Educator & Cultural Strategist
Dr. Rashad Richey – Political Analyst & Commentator
Tamika Mallory – Renowned Civil Rights Activist
Dr. David John – Economic Advisor & Policy Strategist
Tezlyn Figaro – Policy ConsultantNina Turner – Political Economist
In just over a month, TargetFast has sparked a measurable shift in corporate accountability. Since the launch of the boycott, Target has experienced 10 consecutive weeks of declining foot traffic and a sharp drop in stock value — from $104 on March 13 to $92 on April 13, resulting in an estimated $12.4 billion loss in market value (source: Reddit and public market data).
But beyond the numbers, the movement speaks directly to the economic vulnerability of Black-owned brands that once thrived under Target’s DEI efforts, including:
Mielle Organics
Tabitha Brown’s Home & Kitchen Collection
The Doux Haircare Products
Black Girl Sunscreen
“This is not just a protest—it’s a prophetic move toward permanent change,” said Dr. Bryant. “TargetFast is a demand, not a plea. If corporations choose to walk back their promises to our community, we will meet them with economic consequence.”
Attendees can expect a powerful review of the first 40 days of the TargetFast movement, along with exclusive insights from key voices leading the charge. The town hall will offer strategic vision casting and a clear roadmap for the next phase of the movement’s expansion. Participants will also gain access to new resources, including a comprehensive Black Business Directory and a 30-Day Devotional Guide designed to support both faith and financial discipline. With a major media presence on-site, the event is positioned to amplify the movement’s message and national impact.
JHB Movement and the Path Forward
This initiative is being led by the Jamal Harrison Bryant (JHB) Movement, a faith-driven social justice organization committed to economic empowerment, community activism, and racial equity. To support those participating in the FAST, Dr. Bryant is providing registrants with a Black Business Directory and a 30-Day Devotional Guide, offering alternative shopping options and spiritual encouragement throughout the boycott. Supporters can sign up at Targetfast.org to receive the Black Business Directory and 30-Day Devotional, as well as track updates on the FAST’s impact. The JHB Movement will also release a report at the end of the 40-day period to quantify the economic effect of this demonstration.
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