Ghana ‘s This Is New Africa (T.I.N.A) Festival, Was A Celebration of Afrobeats Culture

AfricanGlitz

January 22, 2019

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Global afrobeat superstar, Fuse ODG and his New African Nation Productions launched the maiden edition of This Is New Africa (T.I.N.A) Festival on the 2nd – 4th of January 2018. The series of events produced in collaboration with BBnz, Hennessy, Carabao, and Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), served to promote Afrobeats music and culture and the African continent and Ghana as a catalyst for tourism and investment and was the first program scheduled for The GTA’s Year of Return, a year-long calendar of activities inviting the global African family to a birth-right journey home to Ghana. The T.I.N.A Festival celebrated over three days with a Nation Building Day, New Africa Nation Conference and a Kente Party/Music Festival featuring some of Africa’s leading thought leaders including BBC Broadcaster, Reggie Yates, Actress/Producer, Ama K. Abebrese, Media Personality and Entrepreneur, Bola Ray, Entrepreneur/ Lawyer, Sangu Delle, Activist, Chaka Bars and top musicians from throughout the diaspora, Sarkodie, DBanj, Stefflon Don, Joey B, Lethal Bizzle,and Skepta.

“Africa has been plagued with negative narratives of poverty, war and suffering for so long that it has always been my personal mission to change these perceptions and retell the African story. TINA Festival is part of a New Africa Movement to have people all over the world and in the diaspora including musicians come back home and experience Africa and Ghana like never before through its rich culture, lifestyle and music,” shares Fuse ODG, an Afrobeats pioneer, Grammy Award winner and Cocoa and Tourism Ambassador to Ghana who has been committed to using his music and influence to re-educate how Africa is perceived in the world.

T.I.N.A Festival commenced on the 2nd of January with the Nation Building Day at the Wood World Mission Charity School in Akosombo, Ghana as an initiative to encourage the diaspora community to give back to society. The school co-founded by This is New Africa and Wood World Mission Charity was repainted and cleaned by volunteers including musicians, Stefflon Don andFuse ODG, UK-based Presenter/DJ, Yinka Bokinni, model Alex Boateng, singer, Raye, and DJ/Producer, Manny Norte. Students performed a choreography for the volunteers and thanked Fuse ODG for his philanthropic gestures building a bridge connecting the school and the local town as well as laying the foundation for a new Senior High School.

On 3rd January, over 300 participants thronged to Accra International Conference Center for theNew Africa Nation Conference for a series of discussions on how to take Africa beyond aid and mobilize the sleeping giant of the Diaspora as well as a market fair and an exhibition hall. The “Creative” panel, BBC Broadcaster, Reggie Yates, Actress/Producer, Ama K Abebrese, Media Personality and Entrepreneur, Bola Ray and Musician, Fuse ODG explored the role of artists, creatives, media, and entertainment entrepreneurs in advancing Africa’s development. The “Pan-africanism: From Ideology to Action” panel featured the Harvard trained Entrepreneur/ LawyerSangu Delle, Activist /Pan-Africanist, Chaka Bars and Fuse ODG to discuss different calls to action that put the ideology of Pan-africanism in practice for continental unity, growth, and sovereignty.

“As a social activist and actress, I have had the opportunity to speak on many panels and programs in Europe, the US and Africa. The New Africa Nation Conference and TINA Festival was one of very few to offer pragmatic solutions by those on the ground, to issues that have plagued the Ghanaian and African media environment,” adds Ama K Abebrese, an award-winning British Ghanaian actress, activist, television presenter and producer.

The final day of T.I.N.A Festival on the 4th of January, dubbed the “Kente Party” was truly a celebration of African culture highlighted by a marketplace with African themed food, fashion and art from local artisans and entrepreneurs, a traditional African experiential installation called The Village which allowed guests to don the attire of Ashanti Kings and Queens and a state of the art music concert at the Round Pavilion, a tri-level outdoor venue at Accra’s International Trade Fair Center.

The dress code for T.I.N.A Festival Kente Party was a “touch of Kente/African print” which was adhered to by the majority of the attendees and performers which elevated festival goers visual experience into a kaleidoscope of vibrant African colors, textures and fabrics echoing the African focused theme of the program. The musical concert was hosted by British-Congolese comedian,Eddie Kadi, featured over 20 live performances including Stefflon Don and British Rapper Skepta’sfirst ever performances in Africa and concluded with Fuse ODG’s spectacular performance highlighted by a live band, dancers and many surprise guests including Sarkodie, Kidi, Kuami Eugene, and legendary Nigerian artist, Dbanj. VIP guests including Ghanaian dancehall artist,Stonebwoy, British Ghanaian fashion designer, Ozwald Boateng, and Ghanaian American actor and model Kwame Boateng, enjoyed the show from the Garvey booths situated on the Round Pavilion’s upper most level along with complimentary spa treatments and drinks provided by Moet Hennessy.

This Is New Africa (T.I.N.A) Festival including the Nana Dolls, a line of black dolls inspired by Africa’s historical Queens and Nana Story Books are a part of Fuse ODG and New Africa Nation’s visionary campaign to reunite the Global African Diaspora and reinvent the negative perception of Africa. T.I.N.A Festival will ultimately expand to other markets and countries to provide a world class platform of African cultural and creative excellence.

T.I.N.A Festival Full Artist/DJ Line Up: