The Ultimate Guide to Festivals Celebrating African Music in 2025 (Updating)

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From Ultra South Africa to Afro Nation Portugal, present are the champion lineups this year.

9/30/2025

Davido

Davido Tosin Gbadamosi

Multiple euphony festivals crossed the globe are celebrating African euphony passim the full year, and Billboard is rounding up the biggest ones for you to deed up.

For immoderate acts, these festivals contiguous a heartwarming, homecoming opportunity. Chxrry, the archetypal pistillate creator signed to The Weeknd‘s XO grounds label, performed successful her Ethiopian motherland for the archetypal clip successful January during the World Afrika Festival. Doja Cat was primitively scheduled to execute successful her South African motherland for the archetypal clip successful December erstwhile she would’ve headlined Hey Neighbour, but festival organizers announced connected Tuesday (Sept. 30) that Hey Neighbour would beryllium canceled this twelvemonth and instrumentality successful 2026.

“Our committedness has ever been to propulsion the eventual neighbourhood artifact party, 1 that lives up to the unthinkable loyalty of our Hey Neighbour family. Rushing the process with existent constraints would compromise the precise bosom of what makes this lawsuit special,” Glen Netshipise, CEO of Hey Neighbour, said successful a connection posted to the festival’s Instagram account. “This hard but indispensable determination allows america the clip to physique a coagulated instauration for a spectacular solemnisation successful 2026. We’re committed to creating a festival worthy the wait.”

A fistful of dense hitters are headlining aggregate festivals this year. Davido was successful the apical slot for some Afro Nation Portugal successful July and AfroFuture Detroit successful August, the second of which Kaytranada besides headlined aft doing the honors astatine Milk + Cookies Festival South Africa astatine the apical of this year.

As African acts proceed performing extracurricular the borders of their autochthonal continent, they’ve besides been gradually filling up American festival lineups. Tyla, Rema, Amaarae and Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 performed astatine Coachella. And Tems has transformed into a U.S. festival mainstay by taking implicit Dreamville, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Roots Picnic this spring. In July, she made past arsenic the archetypal African pistillate creator to header Afro Nation erstwhile she took implicit the Lit signifier successful Portugal. And Ayra Starr and Asake were 2 of the headliners for Hot 97’s Summer Jam successful June.

Billboard has compiled a broad usher to the astir important euphony festivals honoring African euphony and/or happening connected the continent this twelvemonth below, successful chronological order. (Editor’s note: Festivals that person already passed volition stay connected the database arsenic a reflection of the afloat calendar year’s offerings of events.)