by May is always looked at in our minds as the perfect firestarter for the annual festival season, and this year we’ve got a pretty promising one to help kick things off. One Vibe Africa’s 3rd annual Madaraka Festival is set to take over the EMP Museum for a night of cultural celebration and cross-pollination, with some big names set to make appearances. Whether it’s living legend trumpeter and Macklemore affiliate Owuor Arunga, world-renowned multi-genre bassist Nik West, or the prolific singer-songwriter Choklate, the event promises a star-studded lineup to help benefit youth empowerment and the disenfranchised in third-world countries.
One Vibe Africa also announced the winner of a contest that places one additional performer on stage at the festival:
One Vibe benefits immensely from the support of musicians from the United States. In an effort to give back to a community that has given us so much we partnered with Gig Town, a free mobile app that makes it easy for local music fans and venues to discover, follow and book their favorite musical artists to hold a contest to find the final artist to perform at Madaraka Festival 2016.
We are pleased to announce that the winner of Madaraka Fest Contest is Yaddi Bojia. The contest winner was selected by a team consisting of Gig Town and One Vibe representatives. The team chose the winner based on the top 5 most Gig Town app downloads, the relevance of their music to Madaraka Festival, and it’s theme.
The theme of Madaraka 2016 is Women’s Empowerment. A key element of One Vibe Africa’s mission has always been advancing the process of developing female leaders, and the 2016 lineup is predominantly female, on top of Naomi Wachira co-hosting the event. The festival brings artists, activists, and community members from throughout the world to Seattle to raise money and support to sustain One Vibe’s programs and celebrate the arts as an instrument of empowerment, through the benefit concert and an accompanying artisan market.
Set to take place on Saturday, May 28th (the second day of the Folklife Festival, which Madaraka itself will be taking place in the middle of), Madaraka will be a pretty unique event, and certainly not one that those that like benefiting third-world countries while also seeing some great live music should skip out on. Tickets to the event are priced at $25 each, with VIP options also available. For more information regarding tickets, the performers, and the history behind the event, consult http://www.empmuseum.org/madaraka16.
