The first two international acts have been revealed for this June’s Africa Oyé Festival in Liverpool’s Sefton Park.
Retuning as a ticketed event for the first time in 2026, Africa Oyé is the UK’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture.
Making his Liverpool debut at this year’s festival is multiple award-winning Nigerian musician, Patoranking.
A visionary in the African music industry and a cultural ambassador for Afrobeats, Patoranking blends the genre with reggae and dancehall to create a unique sound that resonates worldwide. He is a an MTV Africa Music Awards winner and earned recognition in Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30 class of 2020.
Patoranking’s career achieved prominence when he released his hit single My Woman My Everything in 2016, which played a pivotal role in the global recognition of Afrobeats. With a series of successful releases under his label Amari Musiq including tracks such as Babylon, Abule and Kolo Kolo and collaborations with the likes of Major Lazer, Wizkid, and Davido, his music has collectively amassed nearly a billion streams on YouTube alone.
Joining him on the line-up is an exciting band who sadly missed out on their scheduled Sefton Park performance in 2024 due to ill-timed power cuts at Manchester Airport.
Fulu Miziki roughly translates as “music from garbage” which is in a literal sense is an accurate description of the thrillingly chaotic Eco-Friendly-Afro-futuristic-Punk-Assemble collective of artists who ‘come straight from a future where humans have reconciled with mother earth and with themselves’.
This multidisciplinary collective of artists is based in the heart of Africa, in the Congolese capital city Kinshasa. For several years now, its members have spent an amount of time conceptualising an orchestra made from objects ‘found in the trash’, constantly changing instruments, and always in search of new sounds. Making their own instruments, performance costumes, and masks is essential to the approach of Fulu Miziki’s musical core ideology.
Their unique sound supports a pan-African message of artistic liberation, peace and an uncompromising look at the ecological situation of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the whole world. For Fulu everything can be ‘recovered and re-enchanted’.
Paul Duhaney, Artistic Director Africa Oyé spoke about the decision:“Patroranking is a giant of Afrobeats and an artist we’re delighted to be able to bring to Liverpool this summer. As well as being a fantastic performer, his commitment to promoting the abundance of positivity coming out of Africa and champoining of young talent from the continent also chimes perfectly with our ethos as a festival.
And with Fulu Miziki, it was a no brainer to book them for this summer after forces outside of their control meant they missed out at our last festival before the fallow year. They’re a sight to behold on stage and I can promise Liverpool that they’ll be worth the wait!”
The Africa Oyé festival began back in 1992 as a series of gigs in Liverpool city centre, originally coming out of the monthly “Club Corinto” nights which were produced by the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign. It’s growth over the last 33 years has seen it taken in multiple venues including Birkenhead Park, Princes Park, and Concert Square. It has taken place in the picturesque surroundings of Sefton Park since 2002.
The UK’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture makes its return to Liverpool on 20th and 21st June this summer following a fallow year in 2025 due to rising infrastructure costs, changing legislation, and the increasingly difficult challenge of keeping the event free.
The organisers of the ‘jewel in Liverpool’s festival crown’ are committed to making it as affordable as possible for its audience, with Liverpool City Region dwellers currently able to buy tickets for just £11 – an Earlybird price freeze for locals.
Children under 12 receive free entry to the event (with a paying adult) and there is a discount when buying for groups of four people.
This year’s celebration – taking place on the 20 and 21 June 2026 – will be the first ticketed Oyé in Sefton Park in the festival’s history, as ever delivering an eclectic mix of international live acts, emerging talent, community performances, family friendly workshops, DJs, world cuisine, arts & crafts and much more.
Festival tickets are on sale now via TicketQuarter and africaoye.com.
