African Festivals, Culture & Signature Events From the Continent to the Diaspora

Europe’s largest street celebration returns to west London on 30-31 August, Panorama on the 29th – a Caribbean diaspora tradition of mas bands, steel pan, and sound systems, rooted and unmistakably its own.

Three days of music and multidisciplinary arts on the shore of Lake Malawi, 2-4 October at Fish Eagle Bay – a festival defined as much by place as by programme.

One of Africa’s most important recurring art convenings turns Dakar over to a month of contemporary African and diaspora art, 19 November-19 December, official selection and sprawling OFF alike.

Accra’s oldest quarter turns itself over to art from 10-17 August – murals, performance, film and sound at street level in Jamestown, free to anyone who turns up.

One of the oldest accredited film festivals in Africa and the Arab world returns 11-20 November – the point where African, Arab and international cinema meet in one city.

East Africa’s food economy convenes at Nairobi’s KICC, 19-21 August – a working trade floor for manufacturers, buyers, and operators, and the last edition before the franchise moves south as Anuga Select South Africa.

The leading international fair for contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora returns to Somerset House, 15-18 October – one continent, fifty-four countries, in a single frame.

Europe’s largest platform for African and diaspora design returns 17-23 August, with the main runway and exhibition weekend on the 22nd and 23rd – fashion treated as an industry, not a theme.