This year Afrofest will celebrate Africa’s First World Cup. The FIFA World Cup of soccer will be held in South Africa, the first time ever it has been hosted by an African country. The tournament’s climactic final  will be held on the Sunday of Afrofest 2010. Music Africa will seek to capture some of the energy and excitement of this event and bring it to the heart of Toronto.

Football/soccer is extremely popular in many African countries, as well as the African diaspora and immigrant communities in North America. Tournaments often function as important ocassions for community-building, when friends and family all come together and celebrate with food, music and socializing.

Six African countries (South Africa, Ghana, Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire) qualified for the World Cup. Music Africa hopes to feature musicians and performers from all the qualifying nations, and of course from many others as well, into the 2010 programme.

We are also hoping to show the final game live on a big screen in Queen’s Park on the afternoon of Sunday, July 11.  
Afrofest is the African cultural event of the summer, with plenty to see and do! It is a FREE weekend-long celebration of African culture and diversity centred on the non-stop music and dance taking place on three outdoor stages. Afrofest features world-renowned African music acts, as well as dozens of highly-rated African musical groups based in Canada. With a bustling African marketplace, food and craft vendors, artistic displays, a Children’s Village, a drum stage, music workshops, and organized fun and educational activities for youth and children, Afrofest provides guaranteed fun for the whole family, to people of all ethnicities and communities.

Afrafranto knows their way around a stage and in a recording studio. The band features three members of the Juno-award winning the African Guitar Summit, which turned thousands of Canadians on to African pop-rock. Meaning ‘butterfly’ in the Akan language of Ghana, Afrafranto plays an authentic form of ‘Palm Wine’ music, a West African precursor to highlife. Palm Wine music is named for the indigenous liquor served at gatherings where musicians performed their guitar-based music and songs. Afrafranto has resurrected the tradition and brought it into a modern, contemporary setting. Join them friday night to get a taste of the community celebrations that still go on regularly in West Africa’s towns and villages.

Masaisai Those familiar with the legendary Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo’s ‘Chimurenga’ music can   easily relate to the infectious sounds of Masaisai. Now based in Toronto, the band has been delighting   audiences here for the last two years. It features seven musicians, six from Zimbabwe and one from Toronto. The great appeal of Masaisai is in the group’s ability to present traditional ‘mbira’ music, which is meant to be healing and energizing, in a contemporary manner, with charged up, highly danceable rhythms. This is a group to watch out for in coming years!

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Njacko left his native Cameroons in his teens, to the great benefit of Toronto’s music scene. No stranger to world music fans, the ‘king of Kalimba’ has been thrilling local audiences for years. One of the most renowned percussionists in the city, he plays several other instruments including the bass, thumb piano and African harp. Njacko is an acclaimed composer (now with 10 CDs to his credit), musical educator, dancer and choreographer. He will be performing with the the Toumkak Drummers, a troupe he has led for several years.

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Adam has won so many awards and has so many collaboration and touring credits (with local and international acts) that he probably needs no introduction to local music lovers. A Juno Award winning singer (in six languages) and guitarist (his blues picking fuses the Mississippi Delta style with that of Africa), his versatility and excellence has earned him the nickname “the Professor” among fellow musicians.  He and his multicultural band play a unique sound combining East African rhythms with Soukous, Makossa and Highlife. Not to be missed!

Fojeba’s music is rooted in the folk and traditional sounds of Central Africa, but is strongly influenced by jazz and especially modern pop. Born in a western province of Cameroon, Fojeba was taught to play the guitar by Catholic missionaries. He formed ?the Sunshine Band? in the Netherlands in 1999, and moved to Canada a few years later. Fojeba's repertoire is made up of various indigenous music styles, including makossa, zouk and ngwa, and his song lyrics are in Bamileke, French, Lingala and English. In the past 12 months Fojeba has emerged as a force on the local African music scene.

His 2009 CD A La Queue Leu Leu received rave reviews and was frequently played on CBC and campus radio. In concert the delicious melodies of Fojeba?s songs, together with his velvety voice and captivating rhythms, lift our spirits and move us to dance. A real treat.

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A music + soccer event! Featuring live performances by Afrafranto, Njacko Backo and the Toumkak Dancers and the Canafric Theatre Canafrique led by Justine Gogoua (who will MC the evening?s festivities). And ?kicking off? Music Africa?s celebration of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa: with giveaways of soccer gear and enough good cheer to lead Africa?s representatives ? Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cte d'Ivoire and South Africa ? into the tournament! Three of Afrafranto?s six members played with the Juno Award-winning group the African Guitar Summit. Together they specialize in the ?palm wine? music popular in Ghana and parts of western Africa, and in concert they?re guaranteed to get everyone in the audience dancing.

Tarig Abubakar is one of the spiritual fathers of Toronto?s African music scene, anybody who spent time with him was touched by his generous humanity. Born in Sudan, he came to Canada as a refugee in the early 1980s, and within a few years was the leader of the AfroNubians. The band featured members from East, Central and West Africa. They became Canada's most popular African band, touring the country 4 times and releasing 3 CDs, and had just completed their first video when Tarig was killed in a car accident in 1998 in Khartoum, where he had been visiting his mother.

Leading the tribute to Tarig will be the multi-instrumentalist, composer, vocalist and producer Waleed Abdulhamid, along with vocalist Ruth Mathiang, both born in Sudan. Waleed is the founder of the African jazz band Waleed Kush and the hiphop band Kings of Kush. Ruth is one of the rising stars of the local African music scene, with two CDs to her name and having performed at many local and international events. And from the far end of the continent, Jabulani from South Africa will bring its joyous, Zulu-influenced township jive to the stage. Also scheduled to perform is Haba; and there?s sure to be a guest artist or two as well.

Special thanks to Western Union for their support of Music Africa's Black History Month activities