SMADE: Nigerian behind Afro Nation music festival in Portugal

Last week saw 20,000 people of African descent gather on the beaches of Portimao, Portugal.
They were there for Afro Nation – billed as the first festival to celebrate the African Diaspora.

In its debut year, the “historic” four days featured live music from Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Jamaica, the UK and the US.

And who organised it? A 34-year-old Nigerian promoter from Dagenham, who goes by the name SMADE.

SMADE, real name Adesegun Adeosun Jr, had the idea in May last year, inspired by a vision of creating an “unforgettable experience” that would “celebrate love, peace, unity and the beauty of African culture”.

But with a saturated festival market, he knew there would be pressure to pull Afro Nation off.

“This year we have already seen tons of festivals which failed,” he says.

No expense was spared when it came to acts and it boasted performances from Afrobeats and Bashment icons such as Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Busy Signal and Buja Banton.

Notable black British artists also graced the stage, such as J Hus, Ms Dynamite, Stefflon Don, Octavian, Mostack and Ms Banks.

As a self-proclaimed “soldier for a united Africa”, SMADE thought it was worth the risk. It was important, he says, “not just for black people, but for other races to come down and celebrate African culture coming together”.

And come together they did – in droves.

Before the festival, many had compared it to the likes of failed urban music festivals, Fyre Festival and VestiVille. The racial undertones of the criticism, SMADE says, made him more determined for it to be a success.

“We had a lot of doubters and naysayers,” he says. “Sometimes black people don’t like to support one another until it is successful.”

He initially expected 5,000 attendees. To his surprise, the first wave of tickets sold out and SMADE tripled his expectations.

He then  prepared in his own way.

“We are Muslim, so I fasted for three days and prayed with a team of about 55 people. I wanted it to go smoothly and it worked,” he says.

“I wanted it to be a success and break stereotypes – and show you can have thousands of black people in one place and it can be incident free.”

And, he says, it was.

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