For its 75th edition, the Holland Festival is teaming up with the Melkweg and club Lofi for some exciting evening and night programmes. On 3 and 24 June, the unpolished atmosphere of Lofi in the Westelijk Havengebied will allow for late-night partying, while on 20 June the Melkweg will be the place to be.
During these three nights, inspired in part by associate artist of the festival Angélique Kidjo, the likes of Pink Oculus, Sho Madjozi and Gabber Modus Operandi will make an appearance, alongside many more live acts and leading DJs from Europe and Africa. Together, they are guaranteed to bring the dance floor to life.
HF x Lofi
On 3 June, we kick off the first of two club nights at Lofi with a performance by Blue Lab Beats (UK) and their mix of jazz, hip-hop, soul, funk and R&B. Earlier that evening, they will play at Carré in the festival's opening concert, Mother Nature by Angélique Kidjo. Singer Pink Oculus (Esperanza Denswil, Netherlands) performs in a specially designed audiovisual installation by Boris Acket - an optical temple inspired by elements of Afro-futurism. We close the evening with exuberant DJ sets by Catu Diosis (Uganda), Esa (UK/South Africa) and Philou Louzolo (Netherlands), among others.
HF x Galaxy
On 20 June, the Holland Festival, in collaboration with the Melkweg, presents four female acts at the forefront of the African rap scene on one evening: from the popular South African Sho Madjozi, who is making her first appearance in the Netherlands, to up-and-coming artists such as Aunty Rayzor (Nigeria) and the duo Def Maa Maa Def (Senegal), which is even making its European debut. As a Dutch connection, Nana Fofie, born in The Hague with Ghanaian roots, joins the programme. Sho Madjozi embraces the Tsonga culture from her home country with her energetic, rhythmic music, combined with elements of Gqom and Afropop. Aunty Rayzor raps in English and her native Yoruba language on beats with influences of afrobeat and afrohouse. Def Maa Maa Def is an exciting musical encounter between two stars of the Senegalese hip-hop scene: Mama Victory and Defa. The themes and melodies of their songs are deeply rooted in Senegalese culture and history. Ghanaian-Dutch singer-songwriter Nana Fofie draws inspiration from European and African influences. She broke through with covers and mash-ups, such as the Afro mash-up hit Mad Over You, which has been viewed over six million times online.
HF x Lofi x CTM x Nyege Nyege
For the second club night at Lofi, on 24 June, we are joining forces with CTM, Berlin's famous festival of adventurous electronic music,and Ugandan collective, festival and record label Nyege Nyege.
The evening will be kicked off by DJ Marcelle, to continue outside in the Courtyard with the electronically deconstructed gamelan sounds of experimental trio Uwalmassa (Indonesia) and the hallucinatory music of Nakibembe Xylophone Troupe (Uganda), eight men playing one large xylophone. Following this, Scotch Rolex will perform inside, with rappers MC Yallah & Lord Spikeheart (Kenya), and the explosive sounds of the duo Gabber Modus Operandi (Indonesia) will follow, where Nakibembe Xylophone Troupe and Wahono (frontman of Uwalmassa) will also rejoin. The line-up further includes sets by top DJs who are at the adventurous and energetic end of the spectrum: Marcelle (Netherlands), Arakaza (Burundi/Netherlands), Helena Hauff (Germany) and Parrish Smith (Netherlands).
Good to knowTickets for these evenings are on sale via www.hollandfestival.nl and Lofi's websites; https://cutt.ly/4HB1OHM and the Galaxy; https://cutt.ly/RHBNXMP
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
