Looking back at Selam Festival Addis 2016

Timba ala Cubano made in Sweden, legendary Ethiopian icons and french speaking hiphop from Rwanda! We can easily say that we are very pleased with the 2016 edition of Selam Festival Addis!

Selam Festival Addis took place in the Unity Park at Ghion Hotel between 9-10 of January this year. The days before and during were packed with workshops for Sound/&/Light engineers, seminars on the creative industries and networking between key actors in the cultural sector from countries like Ethiopia, Sweden, UK and Germany. We were very happy to have both Shain Shapiro from Sound Diplomacy UK and Piranha Records director and Womex founder Christoph Borkowsky visit us to speak at the Cultural Forum on cultural industries & local development. Intense days filled with music, concerts, meetings and impressions  – you can read here about Christoph’s experience and check some great photos by Aida Muluneh of magic singer Mahmoud Ahmed.

The Swedish connection made a strong impact  – Swedish timba sensation Calle Real  won both the audiences’ and our hearts when performing during a heavy rain shower which didn’t stop nor the artists or the happy dancing crowd, and the DJ workshop given by Swedish artist, DJ and producer Marcus Price at the Selam Studio was very popular!

No matter last minute cancelations (from Yasiin Bey) and adding on to that a heavy rain & thunderstorm  – the warmth from the audience and the professional performances from all of th artists will keep us going until next year.
Here are some glimpses from the vent – more photos will be up very soon.