On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Festival, numerous free shows and activities will enliven the highly anticipated Village des Nuits d’Afrique, from July 14 to 19, at the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles and on the Esplanade Tranquille.
The Village Nuits d’Afrique will welcome you on July 14, from 3 p.m., with a Champeta workshop with YAMBAE, then at 3:30 p.m. with a continuous festive program.
Not to be missed, the entertainment at Cabaret des Nuits d’Afrique: discovery of Gnawa music with Salamate Gnawa, Afro Fusion from Cameroon with Oluwa Banjo and Rock from Somaliland with Sahra Halgan.
Let yourself be led by the intoxicating performances on the outdoor stages of Loto-Québec and TD with Ensemble Afrovibes, Chibane, Suraras Do Tapajos, Septeto de Montréal, Kanazoé Orchestra and Afrique en Cirque.
New for this 40th edition, the Festival will take over rue Sainte-Catherine. Giant screen, retrospectives, sharing of memories, activities and walks with Kalabanté and spectacular projections!
COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF OUTDOOR PROGRAMMING (WORKSHOPS, EVENTS, CONCERTS, DJ SETS)
ENSEMBLE AFROVIBES HAITI – QC July 14, 2026 • 3:30 p.m. Loto-Québec StageMagnified by a versatile female voice and arrangements with soul, jazz, rock and Latin accents, the group cultivates a timeless voodoo‐afrobeat sound. A universe where captivating drums, spiritual songs from Haiti, afrobeat from Nigeria and bèlè from Martinique meet.
CHIBANE ALGERIA – QC July 14, 2026 • 5 p.m. Scène Loto-QuébecChibane navigates with sensitivity between North African tradition, gypsy jazz and committed poetry. The author, composer and performer irrigates his chaâbi with cosmopolitan rhythms, nicely underlined by an intense and warm voice, which carries both wounds and hopes.
SURARAS DO TAPAJÓS BRAZIL July 14, 2026 • 7 p.m. Loto-Québec StagePercussive drums, fluid songs and twirling skirts, Suraras do Tapajós offers a sensory immersion in the heart of the Amazon. The first all-female carimbó group, both gentle and rebellious, they sing about life, resistance and the memory of the people of Lower Tapajós.
KANAZOÉ ORKESTRA BURKINA FASO July 14, 2026 • 6 p.m. TD StageModern and daring, the sound of Kanazoé Orkestra combines balafon, percussion, Mandinka and sambla repertoires, with Nigerian afrobeat, South African amapiano and irresistible rap and electro grooves. With tremendous energy, the group brings traditions to life at 200 bpm!
SEPTETO DE MONTREAL CUBA – QC July 14, 2026 • 8:15 p.m. TDSepteto Stage from Montreal, under the musical direction of Julio de Armas, inevitably makes you want to dance and have fun, to let everything else go. This group, faithful to its traditions, which has shared the stage with renowned artists like Isaac Delgado and Haila María Mompié, promises to ignite the scene.
AFRIQUE EN CIRQUE PRESENTED BY KALABANTÉ (Guinea – QC) Scène TD / 10 p.m. Afrique en Cirque will spectacularly celebrate the 40th anniversary of Nuits d’Afrique. Crossed by the memory of West Africa, the company’s dizzying acrobatics burst forth from all sides, based on the powerful djembes, themselves guided by the generous kora of Yamoussa Bangoura.
THEATER PROGRAMMING ON JULY 14
THE REVELATIONS Presented by RADIO-CANADA GUISS GUISS BOU BESS (Senegal) Tuesday July 14 / Club Balattou – 8:30 p.m. Head-on collision between Senegalese drums and raw beats, the electro-sabar of Guiss Guiss Bou Bess (in Wolof “new vision”) injects the raw energy of ritual percussion and the transcendent beauty of spiritual songs into UK basses garage, grime, dubstep and house.
LES ÉTOLES NUITS D’AFRIQUE presented by TV5 Monde WESLI presents Stanley Toussaint and Kabysh (Haiti – QC) Tuesday July 14 / Club Balattou – 11:00 p.m. A leading figure in Haitian music, this singer and multi-instrumentalist raises high the colors of the rasin and twoubadou traditions, orchestrating his banda, rara, petro, nago rhythms sometimes acoustically, sometimes electrically. For this series, he takes the stage with emblematic artists from the Pearl of the Antilles.