Folklore Festival makes first artist announcement

Image supplied: Pilani Bubu

The Folklore Festival is a celebration of African culture, customs and community and the creative force behind the project is none other than Sama Award-winning storyteller, Pilani Bubu. The festival is set to celebrate South African Heritage Day with a diverse pan-African creative offering from North, South, East and West Africa.

"Folklore is the expressive body of culture shared & preserved by a particular group of people, it is inclusive of the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth, in the form of tales, sayings, dances, proverbs, jokes and music captured through various art forms,” says founder Pilani Bubu.

The lineup

The festival will be headlined by Bubu with her Folklore Ensemble. She was awarded the Best African Adult Contemporary Album at the 26th edition of the South African Music Awards. From the beginning of her musical career, with her genre-fluid perspective, Pilani has managed to impress radio music compilers, TV producers and festival directors with her music and stage presence. Her increasingly busy schedule has a touring itinerary which includes Africa, East and Central Europe and parts of the US.

From Kenya, Folklore Festival welcomes Papillion, one of the first Kenyan musicians in recent times to look at African musical instruments with an eye to redesigning, combining and upgrading them for a new musical experience. His interest in traditional musical instruments is partially the result of the time he spent under the tutelage of Ayub Ogada, who created musical history and achieved world fame by playing traditional musical instruments.

Image supplied: Wanlov the Kubolor and Stevo Atambire

A nova from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, Leomile is a soulful singer-songwriter and composer whose musical tapestry in Sesotho and English, muses on important issues of identity, love and womanhood. Leomile is a name given to rainmakers and it means “One who brings restoration”. It is her role to embody this message, using music as orature that restores the memory of who we have been and who we can become. Her deliberation of these vital and often buried aspects of African life and humanity, exposè as golden threads of honesty, idealism and hope in her songs.

From Ghana, Folklore Festival welcomes Stevo Atambire, a Frafra neo-griot and kologo (a two-stringed luth, often considered an ancestor of the banjo) savant from Bolgatanga which means a town upon a rock. His voice, music and messages have made him very popular among his people. He performs at all social functions from outdooring of babies to burials of royals and everything in-between. Atambire has toured the world as a solo act, with Wanlov the Kubolor's Afro-Gypsy project, and currently plays with the Alostmen.

Image supplied: Leomile

Wanlov the Kubolor is a Ghanaian and Romanian award-winning music producer, performer, and creative director. Kubolor plays the guitar and koshkas and speaks Pidgin, Ga, Twi, English, and Romanian. Kubolor is also part of the satirical duo Fokn Bois, with M3NSA, who are credited with creating the world’s first Pidgin Musical “Coz Ov Moni”. Kubolor produces and supports talents that have positive social messages as he is a strong advocate in Ghana for Human Rights and is outspoken on environmental protection.

The festival will be an ‘all ages’ affair with Ethnikids, an online bookstore, specialising in children's books that feature characters of colour in various South African languages. Toys with Roots is a company whose purpose is to create a destination platform for toys and things which intentionally and beautifully celebrate African children.

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The National School of the Arts will perform their highly anticipated African Reflections. This celebratory musical journey of African and Pan-African music is sponsored by Sampra through the Sampra Development Fund. African Reflections features the NSA music department and the rebirthed NSA Choir under the leadership of Xolani Noveld. This exciting performance will bring the Folklore Festival to a heartwarming conclusion.

Stay tuned for the second artist announcement in early August.