THE fourth annual Zakifo Music Festival hits Durban’s shores on 25, 26 and 27 May, and promises a wide-ranging line-up of cutting-edge musicians from across the African continent and beyond. This year, the festival will be spread across three iconic Durban venues – the BAT Centre, Views at Twenty5 and Blue Lagoon Beach.
Kicking off the festival on Friday night is a fundraising concert for the Nelson Mandela Foundation at the BAT Centre, featuring Sekou Kouyate, a renowned kora player from Guinea, and Elida Almeida, a young Cape Verdean folk singer.
Headlining the evening is South African icon Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse. This event is ticketed separately from the rest of the festival.
From there the festivities move to Views @ Twenty5 in Morningside for the rest of Friday night and Saturday night. This exceptional rooftop venue offers panoramic views of the city of Durban, the perfect backdrop for the evening’s performances.
Answering the call of the Indian Ocean, Zakifo returns to Blue Lagoon beach on Sunday for the final day of the festival with headlining act Aloe Blacc.
Best known for his hit single I Need A Dollar and for featuring on Avicii’s Wake Me Up, Blacc has proven himself a singer/songwriter with an irresistible power to capture the complexities of human emotion.
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Each year a host of satellite events, workshops, and parties linked to the festival occur in the week 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, giving Zakifo relevance beyond the festival gates.
“This partnership with Réunion Island has been a dream of mine. I have attended a number of music festivals internationally and there was no better choice and fit than Zakifo to bring to South Africa, particularly my home town and province. Zakifo is a destination festival, a people to people encounter and we guarantee you that over the years this festival will become part of travellers’ annual calendar coming from all over the world,” said Sipho Sithole, one of the festival partners and founder/owner of Native Rhythms.
Tickets are available via Nutickets:
R500 – 3-day weekend pass (excl. Madiba concert)
R150 – Friday pass – Views @ Twenty5
R150 – Saturday pass – Views @ Twenty5
R300 – Sunday pass – Blue Lagoon Beach
R300 – Friday Madiba concert – BAT Centre
A full event breakdown is available on www.zakifo.com.
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