the essential
A hot atmosphere is guaranteed this weekend with the Toulouse Summer Break festival, which is inviting a host of Afro-Caribbean artists for its first edition. A must-see event for dancehall and shatta fans.
If you like dancing to swaying music and listening to current sounds from Jamaica and Martinique, head to the Toulouse Summer Break festival. The Ville Rose will host the first edition of this event dedicated to Afro-Caribbean music this weekend. On the program, live performances at the Poney Club, a pool party and concerts on Sunday at the Château de la Garrigue in Villemur-sur-Tarn, and after-parties in the Terrazza and Magma Club nightclubs.
“It’s going to be a Toulouse-style Afro Nation,” promises André Lami, the organizer of BKM Event. Already behind the Toulouse Tropical Beach, which takes place at the Nine Club in April, and other events with an exotic atmosphere such as the “Pool Party” at the Voile Blanche and the “Sunday chill” at the Terrazza, this Caribbean, who has lived in Toulouse for a dozen years, has decided to create a large-scale festival on July 5, 6 and 7.
A mix of cultures
“Musical tastes are changing. Today, all young people love dancing to shatta (Martinique music brought back into fashion by Aya Nakamura, editor’s note),” he explains. “We were the first to introduce this music in Toulouse. The festival is aimed at all those who like diversity, hot atmospheres.” A mix of several cultures, therefore, with rap, African and Caribbean sounds, on the bill for Summer Break, which will be hosted in several locations.
Friday and Saturday night, the parties will start at the Poney Club, the summer spot located in the P3 parking lot of Toulouse-Blagnac airport. Martinique rapper Kalash will share the bill with Beenie Man, a Jamaican dancehall legend. Nearly 2,500 tickets have already been sold for Kalash. The next night, it’s Ruger’s turn and his Afrobeats sound, who will follow up with the Bataclan stage the day after, as well as Maureen, a rising ambassador of shatta. These two evenings, after-parties will take place at the Magma Club, in the city center, and at the Terrazza, in Sesquières, with a slew of DJs.
On Sunday, the festivities will move to Villemur-sur-Tarn, in the grounds of the Château de la Garrigue. They will begin with a pool party in its guitar-shaped swimming pool, before a line-up that will start at 4 p.m. The Nigerian Omah Lay will be one of the most anticipated artists of the weekend, he will perform alongside X-Man and Le Jem’ss. An after-party is then planned at the Terrazza.
