Africa: Music Festivals Out of Synch

Mirjam Van Den Berg

30 June 2011

Staff Benda Bilili or Geoffrey Oryema? Seun Kuti or Werrason? Fans of African music have a tough decision to make this weekend. The two big African music festivals in the Netherlands are taking place at exactly the same time.

It’s a shame, says Rob Lokin, who’s in charge of the programme of the Africa Festival in Hertme, close to the German border.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fantastic there is another African music festival around, I just think it’s very unfortunate, not to say stupid, they picked the very same weekend. Because it’s not just the audience who has to choose. It’s also the merchants with their cd stands and the media.

“They are now split between the two festivals, whereas ideally, everybody would be able to visit both festivals. We’re really in each other’s way this year.”

A pity indeed, agrees Eric van’t Groenewout, who, some 200 kilometers to the west, is making the final preparations for the The Hague African Festival. “No fan of African music should have to face this choice.

But there wasn’t really any other date available. There’s only so many weekends in summer to plan open air music festivals in, and all the other weekends were already taken. We wish Hertme a full house this weekend, and we wish the same for ourselves.”

No competition

Quite frankly, Eric van’t Groenewout does not see any competition between the two festivals. “We draw very different crowds. Half of the people visiting The Hague African Festival have African roots. We’re very internationally oriented with all the embassies and international institutions based in the area. Hertme is popular with people from the east of the Netherlands and generally attracts a white audience.”

Over in Hertme, Rob Lokin boasts the setting and programming of his Africa Festival. “Most festivals these days are held on what seems to be a parking lot. People stick a tent in the middle and call it a festival. Hertme has a beautiful open air theatre in the woods. Over the years we built a strong name by programming bands who play in the Netherlands for the very first time. This year, for example, we have Rango form South Sudan and Naïnako from Madagascar. We want to surprise our audience.”

Neither Van ‘t Groenewout nor Lokin see any benefits in organising a joint festival to avoid clashing agendas in the future. Van’t Groenewoud: “That just would not work. We each individually have to organize the best festival we can, without being too much in each other’s way. It’s the wealth of the Netherlands that you can visit several festivals of your musical taste. I wish there were 15 African music festivals scattered all over the Netherlands!”

Advance planning

And how about next year? Lokin: “It’s the 23rd time that the Africa Festival in Hertme takes place during the first weekend of July. This is traditionally our weekend and it will remain our weekend. Next year, the year after, and the year after that.”

Van’t Groenewout: “I don’t know yet what date the The Hague African Festival will be next year. Preferably not at the same time as Hertme, of course. Although I must say this is a great weekend. We might just decide to hold on to it if it turns out to be the best for our festival and with that African music in the Netherlands. We’ll see.”

AllAfrica – All the Time