The Africa Live Festival @ The Elephant & The Nun
Saturday 16th August 2014, 12pm - 7pm 
Burgess Park, Southwark, London, SE5

The Africa Live festival 2014 has been invited to bring the very best of African Culture in its entirety to the Elephant & The Nun. It will be the only place throughout the entire event where the public will be able to buy African influenced bespoke goods, enjoy arts and crafts, fashion, holistic therapies, live music and sample the true diversity of cuisine representative of the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa itself.

What is the Elephant & The Nun?
The Elephant & The Nun is set to be London’s quirkiest Festival, a real celebration art, music and culture. The Elephant & The Nun began in 2011 and was characterised by a series of eclectic events that took place through the borough of Southwark from Elephant & Castle all the way to Nunhead (hence the name )

This year, rather than having lots of events across Southwark, it was decided to combine all of these events into one spectacular festival in the stunning redeveloped Burgess park.

"...one of the best free events celebrating African culture in London. Over the years we have held several events and have been supported by many organisations including but not limited to, Grace foods, Jamaica National, OHTV, The Voice Newspaper, BBC London, LycaMobile, and Afriqyah airways."

This means that the day will be packed with activities, there will be performances from the National Theatre, comedy cabaret from Pull the other one, a funfair from George Irvin, super 7 sports from the sports clubs based in the park , opportunities to  try something healthy with The Creation Trust & incredible edible, pop up performances and a wonderful main stage of world music from Local Global.

 The Africa Live Festival will be situated in the very heart of the event surrounded by the world music stage, national theatre, pop up performance spaces and the Pull the other one cabaret tent.

Travel directions:
There is limited parking available so we recommend using public transport

Buses:
•53, 63, 78,168, 172, 363, 453 Old Kent Road entrance *(recommended entrance)
•12, 35, 40, 45, 68, 468 Camberwell Road entrance
•42, 343 Albany Road entrance
Tube: Elephant and Castle (Northern or Bakerloo line)
Rail: Elephant and Castle
Car park: Albany Road
Bike park: Chumleigh Gardens off Albany Road


Source: http://theafricanmarketday.com/#the-africa-live-festival

The African Market at Spitalfields
Saturday 26th July 2014, 11 - 5pm 
16 Horner Square, Spitalfields, London E1 6EW

Open The Gate is proudly hosting their unique alternative fair, The African Market, featuring a selection of the most talented designers from Africa and inspired by African cultures.

The African Market showcases original & ethical fashion, accessories, jewellery, shoes as well as arts & crafts, homeware, natural beauty products, books, music, arts and more. Local & international charities are also represented, promoting their actions and raising awareness but also funds by selling goods.

And in addition face-painting, glitter tattoos and other kids activities all afternoon!

Also visit: http://www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/the-market/saturday-market/the-african-market

Source: http://openthegate.org.uk/

UZIMA -  Natural Holistic Expo
Saturday 19th July 2014, 12 - 10pm
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, WC1R

An annual event that promoting Health & Lifestyle, Hair & Beauty, Fashion & Culture.
African Market - An abundance of exhibitors providing goods and services in health & wellbeing, natural hair & skin care, arts & crafts, jewellery & adornment, books & education, fashion wear.​
Presentations and Workshops - Presented by professionals and leading experts in Health Awareness, Hair and Skin Care, Raw Food and Nutrition, Holistic Lifestyle and Natural Remedies.​​
Cultural Showcase - Live stage performances by artists showcasing their talent in Storytelling, Traditional Music, Spoken Word, Comedy, Hair & Fashion Design, African Drum & Dance, Drama, Youth Empowerment.​ Hosted by Usifu Jalloh.
Complimentary Therapy - Indulge, relax and treat yourself with a massage, reflexology, body and skin treatments.
Source: http://www.uzimaexpo.co.uk/

A peak at some of the instruments to make an appearance at the next stalls! 

• Balafon
• Shekeres (medium and large)
• Kalimbas (large and small)
• Bean Rattles

African cultural education and activities often focus on drumming, and though an extremely important part of African culture: did you know Africa has a wide variety of harps, lutes, xylophones and zithers which have a variety of uses?

The African Musical Instruments book contains twenty-one instruments from mainly sub-Saharan Africa with an illustration and information on each. These introduce ideas of cultural values and customs, spirituality and beliefs, creativity, artisan skill and the technologies that go into producing the instrument, rather than learning about any of these in isolation.  This coupled with the instruments themselves provide endless fun and child participation whilst at the same time learning about new interesting cultures through a creative medium. 

Not only this, but the book contains an introduction into the role of music in African culture; types and regions of African music; instrument classification; a glossary; and the spread of African music beyond the continent and into the diaspora, who held onto their culture in the Americas laying the foundations for new types of music and indeed Western pop music.

The only book of its kind, and aimed at children is bright and beautifully designed; there is also a colouring book version for children to get creative! 

It’s an important tool which will help to instil cultural knowledge, pride, and a positive self image and identity. It also puts into context what we mainly learn about black history at school by showing the very culture people were fighting to hold on to; we see how this was the foundation for resistance in the various global civil rights movements and chattel slavery. But it’s not about fighting! – it’s about celebrating the long African history and culture looking at the great kingdoms of Songhai, Great Zimbabwe, the Empire of Mali and Ancient Egypt.

Make this black history month as fun, positive and informative as can be!


ISBN: African Musical Instruments Book - 9781627761420
African Musical Instruments Book: Colouring Book - 9781627762502
African Patterns Colouring Book - 9781627768214

Available via the website, Nielsen, Amazon and Waterstones.
www.AMI-Book.com

Discounts for school bulk orders and a selection of *instruments available.
*Fairly traded, and ethically produced by African artisans and craftspeople.

Interested in workshops?

I'm so excited! 
Say hello to the new children, featuring a wonderful assortment of percussion, wind, idiophones and a xylophone.

• Kese-Kese/ Caxixi (percussion)
  
• Djembe drums
  
• Mbiras (thumb pianos)
  
• Coco shakers
  
• Gourd rattles and shakers
  
• Hosho rattles
  
• Rakatak (percussion)
  
• Balafon (xylophone)
  
• Block drum 
  
• Tik-Tak/ Monkey Drum
  
• Cas-cas (percussion)
  

Wow wee! Shekeres, Kenyan flutes and Agogo bells to follow..


Best part is it's all fairly traded, the majority of these have been made by artisans and craftspeople in Ghana. These particular instruments can be found all over sub-Saharan Africa.

On Saturday 10th of August, Boston Manor Park saw a joyful celebration of Zimbabwean heritage and culture - Zimfest London in its 11th year is a charity festival championing the  music, community and culture of Zimbabwe to her diaspora and lovers of her culture.

I was scheduled to assist at a children's African instrument workshop with the talented Tafi Mushuku, mbira  player of Arimba Marimba - a group who are passionate about African instruments and traditional music, and do educational workshops with schools.

Before the workshop, I had the pleasure of watching Arimba Marimba perform in the O2 tent and they were received very well by us, the audience who were dancing and joining in with the call and response wholeheartedly.  The set up featured two mbira (the national instrument of Zimbabwe) players, a percussionist, a drummer and singing from all four members; they sang traditional songs with spontaneous variations and additions, and gave a truly spirited and uplifting performance.

Zimfest was established in 2001 by Zimbabwean expats determined to cultivate positive action following the turbulence in their home country. Year after year thousands of people come together to eat fantastic food and listen to great music, contemporary and traditional, in a home from home. It has provided a platform for the celebration of its multicultural society by bringing together diverse acts all in one event. There were live performances, food and craft stalls, a children's area and a book corner where my books and cards could be found.

This year Zimfest was hosted by Homelanz, an umbrella event celebrating cultures from the southern hemisphere including Australian, New Zealand and South African so there was something for everyone; I was very excited to see Maori performers backstage. Around the world, Zimfest celebrates in the US and Zimbabwe as well as in London.

Zimfest is a charity event - funds raised here and other events organised by WEZIMBABWE support youth development, education, human rights delivery and the provision of basic support for the victims of the crisis in Zimbabwe. To date they have raised over £150,000 at Zimfest which has facilitated the education of thousands of children and made contributions towards a wide spectrum of causes in Zimbabwe. 

www.zimfestlive.com