Wizkid and Burnaboy to headline Afronation U.S debut
Afronation will host its first US festival on the 27th and 28th of May 2023. The festival will be held in Miami at the home of the Miami Marlins, LoanDepot park. The organisers have officially announced that show will be headlined by Grammy Award-winning Nigerian artists Burnaboy and WizKid.
The show was founded in 2019 by British Nigerian promoters Obi Asika and Smade to take Afrobeats and black music to a global audience and has had events in Portugal, Ghana, and Puerto Rico before its US launch. Organizers have been deliberate about promoting and uniting black music and previous shows have featured artists like Chris Brown, and Meghan the Stallion from the United States, Ghanaian artists like R2bees, Black Sheriff and Koffee, and artists from South Africa.
Following the announcement of the U.S. debut, the 2023 Portugal Afro nation was also announced.
This is the third afronation to be held in Portugal since its debut in 2019. The event was put on hold in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic and returned in 2022. The 2023 Portugal edition of the festival will be held from 28th to 30th July 2023 on Praia Da Rocha Beach, Portimão the Algarve. Burnaboy, 50 Cent, Booba, Fireboy DML, Gyakie, Arya Star, Asake, and a host of others have been announced as performers for this event.
The show is expected to announce more artists and the performances are expected to be across the afrobeat, rap, reggae, amapiano, hip hop, RnB, and dancehall genres amongst others.
The last round of the 2022 afronation festivals was held on the 29th and 30th of December at black star square Ghana. Tickets were sold out and the turnout was massive. However, a security situation involving overcrowding caused organizers to stop the show midway. Artists like Rhema, Asake, and Skepta were unable to perform. There is no announcement yet on a new date or who is expected to perform at the 2023 Ghana edition of the show.
Afronation is partnered with the APO group for Pan-African Public relations. In 2019, it was nominated in the best overseas festival category in the UK festival awards. It founded the Afrobeats chart show in partnership with BBC Radio 1xtra hosted by Eddie Kadi.