The Village Nuits d’Afrique will welcome you from 3 p.m. with a samba workshop with Mel Souza!
Not to be missed, the entertainment at the Cabaret des Nuits d’Afrique: Sangisa Sangisa from DR Congo with Fulu Miziki, African singing cabaret with Gotta Lago and a discovery of North African dances with Ana Danse.
Let yourself be led by the intoxicating performances on the outdoor stages of Loto-Québec at the Esplanade Tranquille and TD at the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles with Azara, Salamate Gnawa, Wess Beaudry, Somos Mas, Cumbia Control, the DJ set by Catherine Pépin and Fulu Miziki.
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)
LOTO-QUÉBEC SCENE
AZARA SPAIN – QC July 16, 2026 • 3:30 p.m. Scène Loto-QuébecThe flamenca rumba veiled in jazz from this Montreal quintet offers a sensitive immersion in the passionate traditions of Andalusia and Cuba. The hushed guitars, skillful piano and beautifully modest percussion contribute to the creation of melodies charged with tangible emotion, inherent in the vibrations of copla, flamenco and bolero. And what about the warm and broken voice of Fernando Gallego “El Bancalero”, as well as his stage presence, which invite us to live a lyrical experience that is both collective and confidential?
SALAMATE GNAWA MOROCCO – QC July 16, 2026 • 5 p.m. Scène Loto-QuébecThe rumbling guembri, the piercing krakebs, the penetrating t’bel and the jubilant spiritual songs of Salamate Gnawa, paired in joyful communion with blues, jazz, flamenco, zouk or rock rhythms, are unfathomable. They dialogue with a mystical and intoxicating fervor, decidedly catchy. Each time, the spirit of the ancestors rises, transforming the scene into a contemporary lila. The experience is both internal and collective. Energetic, captivating and therapeutic.
SOMOS MÁS SOUTH AMERICA – QC July 16, 2026 • 7 p.m. Scène Loto-QuébecA story of sorority, Somos Más was born in the privacy of kitchens and living rooms, where personalities are discovered and bonds are forged. This collective of women with multiple roots sings about friendship, resilience and the strength of “we”. Their vocal harmonies, enveloping and luminous, are based on warm arrangements of guitar, ukulele, bass and percussion. In their compositions as in their covers, Somos Más celebrates softness without ever renouncing power.
TD SCENE
WESS BEAUDRY HAITI – QC July 16, 2026 • 6 p.m. TD StageHis mantra is unambiguous: 100% pleasure, without compromise. Familiar with Afrotonik evenings, this enthusiastic drummer and singer is undoubtedly a unifying showman who knows how to create a real connection with his audience and get the room moving. His repertoire combines tasty kompa love, uninhibited reggae, invigorating Afrobeat and expressive rap-soul, all styles which converge towards the idea we have of a successful festive evening.
CUMBIA CONTROL COLOMBIE – QC July 16, 2026 • 8:15 p.m. TD StageThe high-tension guitar riffs explode. The wall of massive and obsessive percussion imposes itself. With a raw and very urban energy, this collective of seasoned musicians reinterprets cumbia inherited from Afro-Amerindian peoples by diluting a good dose of psychedelic rock.
MAJOR EVENTSFULU MIZIKI (DR Congo) TD Stage / 10 p.m.Fulu Miziki Kolektiv makes its mark by transposing the noises of the streets of Kinshasa into an Afro-futuristic techno-punk trance imprinted with Congolese rumba and coupé-décalé that they call twerkanda.
DJ TROPICAL ESCAPESEvery evening, DJs will provide festive and invigorating interludes with panache between the last late-night concerts, broadcasting for the greatest pleasure of all, the most popular hits in the history of world music.
IN THEATER PROGRAMMING ON JULY 15 VOICES OF THE WORLD Presented by RADIO-CANADAKOZE (Reunion Island) Thursday July 16 / Club Balattou – 8:30 p.m. In Reunion Creole, kozé means “to speak”. The group’s ambition is to share the folklore of its island. Kozé’s music is as wild as the ocean, as precious as the forest, as rough as the volcano.
LES ETOILES NUITS D’AFRIQUE presented by TV5 MondeTONTON IDRISS presents Manding Sahel Vibration with Jab Djab (Ivory Coast – Mali – QC) Thursday July 16 / Club Balattou – 11:00 p.m. With his charisma and his little entertainer side, like an enthusiastic radio-hook host, Idriss the Black Viking was the perfect person to host this series which applauds the great influence, modernism and the versatility of Mandinka music.