English
Summer and music always go hand in hand, and the Amsterdam Roots Festival is perfect proof of that, because in its 15th edition it still attracts lovers of good music and cultural diversity in Amsterdam. This year the festival, that gathers different cultures and worlds, will take place between the 5th and the 8th of July, and just like in past editions there´ll be an indoor programme called ´Interior Roots´ and another one that will take place in the open air.
This festival is a pioneer in the world, not only because it covers a diversity that we can rarely find in summer festivals but also because it has different versions, finishing off with an open-air concert at Oosterpark that´s completely free to attend. Different cultures and people of different ages gather there from midday to 10pm, and also enjoy an exotic product market, activities for children, dance and other activities that take place in a unique natural environment.
To enjoy your picnic or your walk around the close to 120 stalls even more, where you can find food and even tarot readings, you´ll have the legendary Angolan musician Bonga, Danyel Waro, Bad JuJu, Systema Solar from Colombia, Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara among many others.
The three days of ´Interior Roots´ concerts will take place on different stages: Galaxy, Paradiso, Bimhuis and Muziekgebouw aan ´t IJ. In these concerts there´ll be many international artists, such as Ana Moura, performing the nostalgic fados from Lisbon; there´ll also be the jazz band of the Lebanese trumpet player Ibrahim Maalouf; Celso Piña´s cumbia through Sudamericano; the alternative Philadelphia hip hop band Chiddy Bang and to cap it off Gente de Zona with their cubatón, a mixture of reggaeton and Cuban percussion.
Ana Moura is known worldwide for her majestic fado performances. Her discographic career began in 2003 with the album Guarda-me a Vida na Mão, and she followed it up with a series of other hits, obtaining the platinum album for the huge sales hit Para Além da Saudade, for which she also received a nomination for the Portuguese Golden Globe Awards as best solo singer.
Bonga, real name Bonga Kwenda, is a legend in Angolan music. He is a combative singer who has sung to his people about the humiliations endured during colonialism, which only left poverty, wars and death. His music is born as a protest and resistance towards Portuguese colonialism, who banned them from using their native language, Kimbundu. Through his songs there´s a search for the stolen African identity.
Systema Solar is a music collective that combines rhythms from their very own Colombian culture with electronic and contemporary music. They began in 2009 with a large concert where they released their first album produced by Juan Carlos Pellegrino and Danny Broderick. Their music is effectively Afro-Colombian, where the unique sound of their local instruments particularly stands out, instruments that they use to recreate old themes and give it contemporary rhythmic fusion. Their quality has brought them to constantly tour Latin American and Central Europe.
For more information: http://amsterdamroots.nl/
Good holidays start with good planning, so don´t forget to include and book Amsterdam accommodation so you can enjoy the best music festival in Europe and breathe its cultural diversity.
