Felabrations 2015

we styled up for Felabrations 2015

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was a character of Nigeria's recent history. He passed away of AIDS in 1997. He is remembered every year in a festival called "Felabrations" organised by his children at the New Afrika Shrine among other locations.

The place is like a giant market hall, a large concrete hall topped by a corrugated iron roof set a couple of meters above the walls to leave the wind carry away the heat from the sun during the day and from humans at night. It is also a sort of ventilation for the weed smoked. Non smokers definitely have their fair share of passive smoking in the course of an evening. It is the only place where weed is tolerated by the police, and a few streets away from the Shrine, people get arrested if they carry some.

active and passive smoking

The place is popular with youngsters. On Friday night, the crowd was immense, thousands of people outside looking at the action on the stage over a giant outdoor screen set in front of the building. Probably a thousand were inside, to the extent that the white plastic chairs that crowd the floor of the hall had been swallowed by the crowd standing. The smell of weed was mixed to the smoke of meat being grilled: beef and chicken suyas, grilled fish accompanied beer and soft drinks. Ice cream was also among the things one could get from the waiters carrying them in a small tray held and the end of one arm above the crowd.

a disciple of Fela

Artists of all walks of life were invited to perform. Femi Kuti made an appearance while a disciple of Fela made a 2 hours performance with a brass band and girls dressed in the traditional outfit and make-up they used to wear while performing with Fela.

Chidinma singing nigerian classic "kedike"

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