This year sees the 30th Anniversary of Africa Oyé the UK’s biggest annual celebration of African and Caribbean music and, as part of the celebrations, the organisers of Africa Oyé and Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF) have put their heads together to come up with a truly special event.

I suppose it had to happen! The musical styles and traditions of those Caribbean island neighbors, Cuba and Jamaica are powerful and irresistible. We at At The Barrier have never made any secret of our love of Jamaica’s reggae, soundsystem and bass culture in all their formats and we’re also longstanding fans of the Afro-Cuban and jazz rhythms that make a visit to Havana such a fulfilling experience. The Havana Meets Kingston project brings these two stunning cultures together in a magnificent way, to create a sound that is entirely new and thoroughly invigorating.

The project received huge plaudits in the music press, following its amazing performance at the 2018 BBC Proms and now the shifting collective of top Jamaican and Cuban musicians is back in UK to add a special Caribbean sparkle to the lives of anyone who will be lucky enough to be in Liverpool on 31st July.

Havana Meets Kingston will take place at Liverpool’s Royal Philharmonic Hall on the evening of 31st July, 2022, commencing at 7:30 PM. Tickets are priced from £22 and are available via this link. It promises to be a magical evening.

This year’s 30th Anniversary Africa Oyé took place on 18th-19th June in Liverpool’s Sefton Park and it was such a wonderful event that the organisers were determined that the party would go on. Artistic Direcor Paul Duhaney said: “We’re still coming down from what was a truly special anniversary festival and we’ve got no plans on letting up. Havana Meets Kingston is the perfect event to celebrate 30 years of Oyé being in Liverpool and we’re delighted to be teaming up with LIMF and the Philharmonic Hall to make it happen.”

Havana Meets Kingston – Sunday 31st July 2022 at 7:30PM, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Get a fell for why we’re so excited about Havana Meets Kingston – watch this clip of Highlights from when the project took the BBC Proms by storm:

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