Who Are You? Felabration Opens in Lagos, Ouagadougou Keeps Sankara’s Memory, Siaya’s Choir Wins Medals, and Barbados Brings Africa Home

This week, 15 October carries two anniversaries that many Africans hold close. Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the father of Afrobeat, was born on 15 October 1938, according to Westtrybe, and Lagos opened its week-long Felabration on 12 October under the question “Who Are You?”, per Voice of Nigeria. On 15 October 1987, Burkina Faso’s President Thomas Sankara and twelve companions were killed, and in Ouagadougou his memory is now marked every month, according to LeFaso.net. Meanwhile, the Africa Sings choral festival in Nairobi has handed out its medals, per Siaya Today, and in the Caribbean, Barbados is preparing an Africa Fest for young people, according to its organisers. This time the focus is identity and memory that people put to work.

What is happening on the ground

Nigeria: Felabration asks “Who Are You?” (Oct 12–18)

According to Voice of Nigeria and Westtrybe, Felabration 2026 runs from Monday 12 October to Sunday 18 October at the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, Lagos. Voice of Nigeria reports that the week will include art, fashion, dance, and discussions, “encouraging a new generation to connect with Fela’s ideas.” Per Voice of Nigeria, a Dress Fela fashion show on Saturday 10 October opened the activities ahead of the main festival.

Citing the festival’s official Facebook page, Voice of Nigeria lists headline sets from Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, Made Kuti, and Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, with guest artistes including Apala exponent Musiliu Haruna Ishola, Terry Apala, Atawewe, and Ice Prince. More performers are expected to be announced, per Voice of Nigeria, and a listed name is not a guarantee of a performance. Westtrybe reports that Freedom Park on Lagos Island is hosting a related programme called Underground System over the same dates.

Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti, Fela’s eldest daughter, conceived Felabration in 1998, the year after her father died, according to Westtrybe. Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, as cited by Voice of Nigeria and Westtrybe, she said: “It’s a very positive thing because if you come to the Shrine, you see people from all over the world. I’m glad that we are doing it and we are promoting our culture.” Westtrybe and the festival’s official website both note that it has been held every year since, apart from 1999, and Westtrybe adds that Fela’s birthday falls inside this year’s programme.

Burkina Faso: “Sankara lives on” at the Memorial (Oct 1, and Oct 15 ahead)

On Thursday 1 October 2026, the Thomas Sankara Memorial in Ouagadougou held its 12th monthly military tribute to Sankara and the twelve companions who fell with him. LeFaso.net reports that the ceremony, introduced by President Captain Ibrahim Traoré, is now held on the first Thursday of every month. This edition carried the theme “Thomas Sankara vit toujours” (Thomas Sankara lives on). These are official, government-led commemorations, and according to LeFaso.net, speakers tied them to the current government’s political programme.

According to LeFaso.net, the Minister for Servants of the People, Mathias Traoré, asked that Sankara’s memory “not only be commemorated, but transformed into behaviour,” so that “every tribute becomes a commitment, and every commitment becomes an action” (our translation). The Memorial’s own report says he announced a contribution of 5,000,000 CFA francs from his ministry to “Ma brique pour Sankara” (My brick for Sankara), a community campaign to help build the memorial complex. That pledge has so far been reported only by the Memorial itself.

The same afternoon, Burkina 24 reports, the Memorial hosted the third Revolutionary Cinema Thursday, screening Quand Sankara… by Gauz (Armand Gbaka-Brédé) and Christophe Cupelin’s documentary Capitaine Thomas Sankara. Second-year trainees from the national school of administration and magistracy (ENAM) were the guests of honour. Ministry secretary-general Rodrigue Suanyaba Oboulbiga said: “As well as a full head, we want officials whose hearts are full of passion.” Cameroonian Pan-Africanist analyst Wilfried Ekanga added: “Knowing history is what keeps us from repeating the same mistakes” (both our translations).

Young people are walking toward the memory too. Faso Observateur, citing the Burkina Information Agency, reports that about a dozen young marchers set out from Nahouri Peak on 29 September on a 170-kilometre walk to the Memorial, and were welcomed along the way by the authorities of the commune of Koubri. The 39th anniversary of Sankara’s death (15 October 1987) falls on Thursday 15 October.

Four stages of memory: Lagos, Ouagadougou, Nairobi, Bridgetown

Kenya: Siaya’s county choir brings home medals from Africa Sings (Oct 7–10)

Last week we previewed Africa Sings, the pan-African festival of choral and traditional music. It has now closed. Siaya Today reports that the 9th edition ended on Saturday 10 October with a gala at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in Nairobi.

Per Siaya Today, the Siaya County Staff Choir, competing for the first time, won bronze. It sang the set piece Jambo Kenya and its own composition Owang Winyo Sungore. In the set-piece category a South African choir, which Siaya Today does not name, topped the standings with 90 points, and Siaya placed third with 75. Siaya’s Jenita Adhiambo won silver in the female solo chant category, and the county’s Dodo cultural dance troupe took silver with 70 points. Ogande Girls from neighbouring Homa Bay County came first in the dance category. The choir was trained by Joseph Ochieng and Charles Milongo.

“We don’t take our participation here for granted. It has been a well-accommodated challenge, and we request that it continues,” said choir chairlady Ruth Omoga, who asked county leaders for steady support, per Siaya Today. According to the same outlet, the 10th edition is scheduled for Monrovia, Liberia, in 2027.

Barbados: Africa Fest, “Celebrating our Queens & Kings” (Oct 31, upcoming)

According to The Diasporadical Initiative’s announcement, on Saturday 31 October, Wildey House Gardens in Barbados will host the second Africa Fest, with music, food, fashion, art, and storytelling. It is presented by The Diasporadical Initiative in a first-time partnership with the Barbados National Trust, during the season of Barbados’s 60th anniversary of independence. The organisers say the festival will include cultural learning for young people about African royal heritage and tradition, and that Nigerian singer, actress, and multi-instrumentalist Tosinger will lead the line-up.

“For many in the Caribbean, Africa can feel both deeply familiar and surprisingly distant. Africa Fest is an opportunity to close some of that distance to make the connection tangible and engaging, particularly for young people,” said co-founder Prince Bazawule, per the organisers’ announcement. Denise Sandiford of the Barbados National Trust said Barbadians would “not just look at history but actively connect with their roots.” The festival is supported by the Office of Pan-African Affairs and Heritage. This is a preview based on the organisers’ announcement.

Lessons we can carry

Answer the question. Felabration’s theme, “Who Are You?”, is worth asking at home: what do you know about your family, your language, and your music?
Turn memory into conduct. Whatever one thinks of the politics, the call heard in Ouagadougou to make tributes into daily behaviour applies to every community that honours its heroes.
Back the local choir. Siaya’s medals came from weeks of rehearsal by county staff, and their leaders are now asking for steady support. Local culture grows when it gets steady support.
Build the bridge for the young. Barbados is bringing Africa into the lives of its children, not only into museum cases.

Carry it forward: four ways to put memory to work

Encouragement

This week, play a Fela record with someone younger and talk about what the lyrics are saying, read a short Sankara speech on 15 October, listen to a Kenyan traditional choir, or tell a Caribbean friend about Africa Fest. Unity starts with knowing who you are, and it lasts when you pass that knowledge on.

Watch / follow: Felabration updates from the New Afrika Shrine through 18 October; commemorations at the Thomas Sankara Memorial on 15 October; Africa Sings news ahead of Monrovia 2027; Africa Fest in Barbados on 31 October. Primary links are in Sources.

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