14th December, 2023
By Taiwo Okanlawon
The BlockParty, Africa’s premier youth festival, on Wednesday announced Davido and Adekunle Gold (AG Baby) as the headlining acts for its blockbuster holiday events.
Davido will headline the Island iteration of the youth festival on 26 December, while Adekunle Gold will play the Mainland event on New Year’s Day.
Davido’s headline appearance was unveiled today (13 December) ahead of the forthcoming events. The Afrobeats star – whose latest album, Timeless, dropped in March of this year – will be joined by the likes of ODUMODUBLVCK, Fave and Dopecaesar at the Island affair – dubbed the Timeless BlockParty – on 26 December in Lagos.
The festival’s own sound system crew will also be in attendance at the Island gathering featuring the likes of DJ Titanium, Maze x Mxtreme, and SmallztheDJ alongside Livewire, MIA, and Tolu Daniels on hype duties.
Davido is coming off a big year, earning three nominations for the 2024 Grammy Awards. The nominations include ‘Best Global Album’ for his fourth studio album, Timeless. The other two nominations are for ‘Best African Performance’ for his song, Unavailable (which features Musa Keys) and ‘Best Global Music Performance’ for his song Feel.
Timeless was also named ‘Album of the Year’ at the African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMAs) 2023.
On 1 January, Adekunle Gold will take to the stage at the fifth-anniversary edition of the festival’s Mainland event, dubbed #Mission24K.
Davido also made waves in November, selling out the State Farm Arena in Atlanta for his highly anticipated “Are We African Yet?” Festival (A.W.A.Y. Festival). Following the event’s success, the City of Atlanta, in a letter signed by the Atlanta City Mayor, Andre Dickens, proclaimed November 18 as ‘Davido Day’. The Board also proclaimed November 21 as ‘Davido Appreciation Day’ in Fulton County, Georgia.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have Davido and Adekunle Gold as our headliners for this festive season’s BlockParty events,” said Tobi Mohammed, Founder, BlockParty and Managing Partner at The Plug.
“This is our way of saying thank you to all those who have been a part of our journey since 2018, and it is symbolic of the amazing plans we have for the festival in 2024. We are confident that these two events will be a highlight of the year for all attendees.”
Head to the festival’s website for tickets and further details.