“Arp Frique presents Festival Magia” is back for it’s second edition at a new location in the heart of the city of Rotterdam, presenting some of the most exciting names in international music: Azymuth & Marcos Valle, Wally Badarou, Hailu Mergia, Pedrinho, Ahmed Fakroun, DJ Okapi, Digital Zandoli Soundsystem, Margie, Mar & Sol Soundsystem and the LOKA DJs will all take the stage September 1st at Festival Magia, situated in a gorgeous city park called Park Oude Westen in the very exciting and culturally diverse surroundings of the legendary West-Kruiskade. From 1 PM till 11 PM, 5 bands and 5 DJs on one stage, and it’s completely FREE of charge, no need to look for tickets.

Brazilian powertrio Azymuth and beloved singer Marcos Valle will perform together for the first time outside of Brazil, a unique set including their classics such as Azymuth’s “Jazz Carnaval” and Marcos’ “Estrelar” plus songs from “Previsao do Tempo”, Marcos Valle’s 1973 album which featured Azymuth as the backing band. Benin-born synthesizer pioneer Wally Badarou will make his debut in Holland at Festival Magia with a fully synthesized live band, performing work from the many soundtracks he did over the decades (Kiss Of The Spiderwoman’s title track!), his highly sought after solo albums and songs from his days with Level42, Talking Heads, Grace Jones and Sly&Robbie, to name only a few. We are very excited to welcome Hailu Mergia who is currently receiving rave reviews and press galore for his new oeuvre “Lala Belu”, including extensive pieces in The Guardian and The New York Times. His first album in many years, released on Awesome Tapes From Africa, marks the return to the music biz of one of Ethiopia’s leading performers. Ahmed Fakroun, multi-instrumentalist / singer from Libya, made his mark in world music circles in the mid-80s when his album “Mots D’Amour” was released internationally, but it was mostly his single “Soleil Soleil” that sparked larger interest back in the days and in the present time for this vibrant performer and composer, back on stage with a new band at Festival Magia. Another exclusive is the first show of Cape Verde’s beloved singer and organist Pedrinho, who’s classic album “Aleluia” just got re-released on Mar&Sol Records, which was once Pedrinho’s debut record.

His label boss will also be at Magia, DJing as Mar & Sol Soundsystem, showcasing some of the gems of Luso African music from Cape Verde, Angola, San Tome, Guinee and Mozambique. Digital Zandoli Soundsystem are known for their very successful compilations (Digital Zandoli 1 and 2) out on Heavenly Sweetness. At Magia they will bring part of their unique collection of zouk and other rarities with them. Also behind the decks at Magia: DJ Okapi, who is working around the clock to dig up the best South African pop music from the 80s and 90s releasing them through his own label Afrosynth Records, while also serving up DJsets full of kwaito, bubblegum and 80s synth jams. Margie runs Rush Hour’s House of Music fanzine and is making moves across Europe, with key performances at Concrete and Macki Music in Paris, Corsica Studios in London, Strange Sounds From Beyond and Dekmantel Festival in Amsterdam, now touching down in Rotterdam. Local heroes that have definitely earned their position in between this lineup are the LOKA DJs. The Rotterdam-based collective is famous for their dancefloor scorching parties called L’Afrique Discotheque and are known for their tasteful approach of mixing rarely heard dancefloor bangers mainly from the Caribbean and Africa. Ivan Conti Mamao of Azymuth fame was so kind to do this lineup video with me, check it out right here:

The festival will also have a wide array of food available, plus several mini popup vinyl stores, all just a few meters away from Rotterdam Central Station in the middle of Rotterdam’s most vibrant neighourhood. The festival is open to all ages: we very much feel the need to keep the festival accessible for the little ones as well, as you can never start early enough with a proper live music education! For more information, check out www.festivalmagia.nl or follow Magia on Facebook and Instagram. For all other inquiries, please contact info@festivalmagia.nl.