the essential
The first seven known artists are giving pride of place to Africa for the 30th anniversary of the Rio Loco festival which will take place from June 11 to 15 at the Prairie des Filters in Toulouse with Kassav, Angélique Kidjo, Youssou Ndour, Lenine, Salif Keita, Alonzo and Jupiter & Okwess.
For the 30th anniversary of Rio Loco, the town hall has decided to offer a selection of the best moments and artists who have marked the history of the festival. From June 11 to 15, the Supernova edition will allow us to revisit the stars who wrote the most beautiful musical pages of the world music festival. Among them, Kassav set fire in 2013 for the edition dedicated to the Antilles. Back, the zouk group promises to make the Prairie des Filters vibrate with music and emotion for a tribute to its singer Jacob Desvarieux, who has since passed away.
Among the headliners, Angélique Kidjo of course. The Beninese singer was present in 2019 for the edition dedicated to women’s voices where she paid tribute to Claude Nougaro. For this return, she will be at the heart of a creation that the festival will unveil in March.
The king of Mbalax
After more than 45 years of career, gold records and worldwide fame, nicknamed the King of Mbalax, he was the guest of the group Daara J in the Rio Loco edition dedicated to Senegal in 2006. Youssou Ndour is back in 2025 with his legendary group Le Super Étoile de Dakar for the first time at the Prairie des Filters.
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Multi-awarded Brazilian singer and guitarist, Lenine revealed his love for Toulouse in 2012 and for his Fabulous Trobadors whom he knew well through the Lusofonia edition. He promises to shake the ground with the SpokFrevo Orquestra, a large prestigious ensemble from Pernambuco.
Even if the next edition reschedules many artists, it is a first at Rio Loco for Salif Keita, the icon of Malian music. Nicknamed the “Golden Voice of Africa”, he makes his comeback in an acoustic work, reconnecting with his roots and his guitar.
Alonzo’s rap
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The 2024 edition highlighted rap from around the Mediterranean. Supernova will bring into its galaxy a historic figure of Marseille rap with Alonzo who has built a career over 25 years with millions of albums sold. Former member of Psy 4 de la rhyme, he has established himself as an artist who counts on the rap planet. He will participate in yet another surprise set which will be revealed next March.
Finally, in 2015, Rio Loco celebrated its 20th anniversary, notably, to the rhythm of the groove of Jupiter & Okwess. Jupiter Bokondji and his group from Kinshasa Okwess will win back the public with a new album expected at the end of January.
