Felabration - Press Release

August 24th, 2007. Lagos, Nigeria
This year marks the 10th year anniversary of the death of the founder of Afro beat, Fela Kuti and it is being celebrated in his home country, Nigeria in a very big way. Poet, Philosopher, Rebel, King, Fela meant a lot of things to different people and was a man of the people. This event will celebrate his music, his life, and all the many truths he shared with his fans in his music and his life.

While there are several events planned around the world, by various organizations, to mark the 10-year anniversary of Fela's death, FELABRATION 10 will be the only one taking place in Nigeria, at the Shrine in Lagos (Fela's spiritual home) and hosted by the Kuti family. FELABRATION will be the only authentic, all-encompassing event to mark the life and death of one of the world's truly original artists.

The event which has been tagged "FELABRATION 10" is a 5-day celebration of Fela's life, music and spirit holds from the 9th-16th of October 2007. The events scheduled include:

Tue October 9th: World Movie Premiere of the previously unreleased special movie of Fela Shuffering and Shmiling and Kick Off Party featuring celebrity DJ, Koffi

Wed October10th: Ladies Night. A day dedicated to the ladies to celebrate Fela featuring special performances by frontline Nigerian female artists such as Zeal, Sasha, Niyola, Asa and many more.

Thursday October 11th: Classics and Yabis night featuring Veteran artists like Fatai Rolling Dollars and Victor Olaiya with ace comedians, Basket Mouth, Tee A and Julius Agwu handling the Yabis special. (Don?t forget Baba inspired most of the frontline comedians as a grand Yabis Master himself)

Friday October12th: Fela is Hip Hop featuring International hip hop artist, Nas as well as top Nigerian hip hop stars such as Mode 9, Ikechukwu, Naeto C, Thoroughbreds and Lord of Ajasa
have already been confirmed to celebrate Fela, the hip hop way! (More to come)

Saturday October 13th: Block Party. All roads lead to the Shrine for a Street Party featuring Damian Marley and most of the big names in Nigeria's music industry.

Sunday October 14th: Fashion for Fela by award winning designer, Deola Sagoe featuring International models Oluchi, Agbani and Nnenna amongst many others. This will be followed by special performances by Femi and Seun Kuti.

Monday October 15th: All day Free feeding at the Shrine by the United Nations World Food Project (UNWFP)

Tuesday October 16th: Music Business Conference. The conference will be held in honour of Fela with an aim to elevate the Nigerian music industry. The event will join major businesses, major players in the industry as well as International resource people. Issues such as piracy, distribution, broadcast, new technologies, international markets, regional markets, corporate support, the power of music to drive youth marketing and brands will be dealt with.