ONE of Ghana’s premiere festivals that celebrates Black music, art, fashion, and culture, Afrochella, is not ending! Instead, is rebranding into Afro Future Fest.
‘We’re still in the early stages of rebranding but the festival isn’t ending out right,’ a spokesperson tells lifestyle news portal Travel Noire. ‘The brand is just transitioning from Afrochella to another name.’
There are very few details on the brand’s new name, but the spokesperson confirms the team has already gone live with a few posts on social under the name ‘Afro Future Fest.’
This is certainly good news following a shocking announcement from one of the co-founders that the festival would be ending.
‘This is the last Afrochella,’ said Abdul Abdullah. He told fest-goers on the second-day of the festival at the El-Wak stadium in Accra.
Abdullah’s announcement was a curve ball for so many people, reports Travel Noire.
‘I couldn’t believe it when they said Afrochella is over,’ one woman told BBC.
‘There was something special about Afrochella that meant so much to African Americans like me […] I think it’s gonna be hard to fill the void that they’ll leave,’ another person told Travel Noire.
Afro Future: A new beginning
If one thing is clear as Afrochella continues to evolve, organisers are focused more on a music festival. Since its inception in 2017, Afrochella has become a unique experience for Black fest-goers unlike anything else in the world, according to the portal.
2022 marked a first: a two-week experience with signature events including ‘Fashion Night Out,’ an evening to celebrate African fashion, and the ‘Afrochella Music Museum,’ a museum-like experience that takes people on a musical journey from the past into the future with live performances and art installations.
New in 2022 was the ‘Afrocanteen,’ a one-of-a-kind exclusive food experience located right on the festival grounds where 35 food vendors from all over the continent and at least 15 other fashion, beauty, and art merchants will be situated.
2022’s theme of ‘AfroFuturism’ was about transforming spaces into an interactive ‘universe’ for festgoers to enjoy.
With tiny details on how the team is moving forward, there is chatter about how January 2023, marked a new beginning.
Coachella not happy
When Abdullah first announced Afrochella would not return, many suspected it had much to do with the lawsuit filed by Goldenvoice: the organisers behind the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Goldenvoice filed a lawsuit against the Afrochella team, claiming trademark infringement. The lawsuit says that the similarity in the names will create confusion, as previously reported.
