Being the capital of Canada, Ottawa is home to people from all over the world.
There’s a big African and Afro-Caribbean community there, which for the last seven years has put on the Afrofestival Ottawa. It’s a three-day celebration of African music, dance, clothing, food and culture — and it’s all free.
Free African drumming workshops are part of Afrofest Ottawa. Photo provided
It takes place this weekend, Friday to Sunday, at Mooney’s Bay Park, just south of the city on the Ottawa River.
David SommersteinOttawa’s celebration of African music and culture is this weekend
David Sommerstein caught up with the festival’s emcee, Innocent Gbaguidi, who goes by MC Innoce. Their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
MC INNOCE (INNOCENT GBAGUIDI): This cultural festival celebrates the richness and diversity of African culture through music, art, food, and community.
DAVID SOMMERSTEIN: You’re the master of ceremonies, the MC of the festival. You’ll be on stage introducing the acts. Who are you most excited to see on that stage?
Afrofest Ottawa is three days of free live music featuring internationally known Afrobeats artists and other styles of music. Photo provided.
MC INNOCE: On this stage this year, it is actually the first time we’re bring international artists to the festival. We usually go with local artists from all over Canada, from Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and also Ottawa. But this year we decided to bring something new to the festival. So we reached out to some international artists.
The most exciting one I’m looking forward to seeing this year at the festival will be Mr P, from P-Square, a Nigerian group. They’ve been a very popular group in Africa since back in 2000. When I was young, those were the artists who really brought Afrobeats to life. All I can tell you is you need to be there to see them. If you even mention P-Square to anybody who knows Afrobeats, they know exactly who it is.
SOMMERSTEIN: I was also looking at a DJ named DJ-Bullet, who’s Haitian-American from Miami. Tell me about him.
We have another DJ here that people are excited to see. She’s coming from London, DJ Jea. She’s bringing the energy of a superstar DJ as well. We have also Nqobile. She used to be a dancer. Now she’s a musical artist.
Afrobeats Ottawa showcases African food, fashion, and crafts through its vendors. Photo provided
SOMMERSTEIN: Why do you think it’s important to showcase African and Caribbean and Pan-African music in Ottawa?
MC INNOCE: In Ottawa, we have a big African community, and it’s hard to have everyone in one place. And remember, Afrofest is about the culture. So we’re going to have dancers, a fashion show featuring African designers coming to showcase their clothes. It’s also about the food. We’ll be having food vendors, African crafts, African clothing. Also, it’s a festival for the family as well. So we’re going to have like a kids’ village as well.
It’s important to have this kind of festival to bring people together to celebrate the culture and have like a space where people from all backgrounds can come together to discover, celebrate, and experience African and Caribbean culture.
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