Africa Oyé have announced big changes for their 2026 festival as organisers prepare for an exciting new era for the much-loved event.
The UK’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture returns 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 jewel in Liverpool’s festival crown will return as a ticketed event in 2026 with organisers committed to making it as affordable as possible for its audience.
Ghanian group Santrofi at the end of their set at Oyé 2022 in Sefton Park (Photo: Santrofi)
Paul Duhaney, Artistic Director Africa Oyé spoke about the decision: “We couldn’t let the festival just disappear off the UK’s cultural calendar. The Board, myself, and the team all agreed that a paid event would be a much better alternative to no Oyé at all, and I hope our loyal audience agree with the decision and keep showing us the support they always have. The change will enable us to maintain and build on the quality of the event that people have come to expect and ensure that those attending can do so in safe and relaxed environment.”
The festival began back in 1992 as a series of gigs in Liverpool city centre put together by Africa Oyé’s founder, Kenny Murray. 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.
Next year’s celebration – taking place on the 20th and 21st 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.
Liverpool DJ Papu Raf plays the Trenchtown stage at Africa Oyé (Photo: Nick Clague)
Earlybird prices see local resident tickets start at just £6 with general admission beginning at £11. 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.
Paul also explained how local organisations, shops and businesses can get involved next year: “Grassroots festivals rely on the support of the local community and Oyé has always enjoyed great support from the city and region – including additional support pledged by Liverpool City Council for this first year of transition to a ticketed event. We’ll be working with community organisations to distribute free tickets to as many low income people and families as possible. Any local companies that would like to buy a bundle of tickets to contribute to this effort and be recognised as an official supporter of the festival – so that we can pay it forward – would be hugely welcomed so please do get in touch.
We’re still a registered charity and we’ve kept the ticket prices as affordable as we possibly can. The Earlybird prices are limited though so grab them while you can and get the dates in your diary.”
Jen Cleary, Director North West, Arts Council England said: “We know that Africa Oyé is a popular event within both the North West and the music world, so I’m delighted that it will be returning in 2026. I’m sure that local people and visitors alike are looking forward to the relaunched Africa Oyé next year.”
A carnival dancer with the Katumba drumming troupe lead a parade around Sefton Park (Photo: Nick Clague)
Previous headliners of the festival have included titans of global music with Julian Marley, Oumou Sangaré, Akala, Fuse ODG, Tinariwen, Max Romeo, Baaba Maal, Horace Andy and many more all gracing the Oyé stage.
Africa Oyé 2026 will take place in Sefton Park, Liverpool on 20th and 21st June 2026. Tickets are on sale now via TicketQuarter and africaoye.com.
– ENDS –About Africa Oyé
Africa Oyé is the UK’s biggest celebration of African music and culture. Beginning in 1992 as a series of small gigs in Liverpool’s city centre, the event has gone from strength to strength, moving to its present Sefton Park home in 2002 to cope with demand.
With too many negative representations of Africa entrenched in images of war, disease, poverty and famine, Oyé seeks to redress the balance and highlight the fantastic range of cultures, foods, music and artists that make this great continent one of the most vibrant and inspiring in the world.
“This isn’t just the largest festival of African and Caribbean music in Britain, it’s the best” – The Sunday Times
The festival is a truly diverse and international event that harnesses the spirit of multiculturalism. It has played host to artists from nations right across Africa and also programmes music from South America and The Caribbean with Salsa, Soca and Reggae always a popular addition to the festivities.
But Africa Oyé is about more than music. Over 90 stalls selling the best food, drink, arts and crafts and fashion from Africa and beyond make up the vibrant and eclectic Oyé Village, alongside workshops in the Oyé Active Zone and the two DJ stages, Trenchtown and Freetown.
The 2026 Festival: A New Era
The next Africa Oyé festival will take place on 20th and 21st June 2026 in its Grade 1-listed, 200 acre home of Sefton Park – the largest open space in Liverpool.
For over 30 years Oyé has welcomed people from every demographic to our festival each year, to enjoy incredible live music and and DJs from across Africa, the Caribbean and the Diaspora, as well as the famed Oyé ambience.
Oyé celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2022, and in 2024 enjoyed its busiest ever festival, attracting over 80,000 people. In 2026, with rising costs, changes in legislation, and the charity’s ongoing desire to ensure a safe event for all, Oyé will be fenced and ticketed for the first time. Oyé will continue to provide a welcoming atmosphere as the festival begins this new chapter of an incredible journey.
For more information, please visit africaoye.com.
About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Our vision, set out in our strategy Let’s Create, is that by 2030, we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences.
Between 2023 and 2026 we will have invested over £467 million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from The National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live.
Until Autumn 2025, the National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom: since the first draw was held in 1994, it has raised £49 billion and awarded more than 690,000 individual grants.
Visit our website to learn more about our work.
Press Enquiries
Please email dave@africaoye.com and ally@africaoye.com with any press enquiries.
For more information on the festival and other events held across the country by Africa Oyé please visit africaoye.com and follow them across social media.
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