World rhythms at Nuits d’Afrique

What is Nuits d’Afrique?

The Festival International Nuits d’Afrique (FINA) was founded by legendary Montréal promoter Lamine Touré who opened the city’s iconic Club Balattou in 1985. Congolese entertainer Dally Kimoko’s hit song Balattou à Montréal (which you can listen to on Spotify) spread the legend of Club Balattou where world-music superstars Papa Wemba, Baaba Maal, Salif Keita, Youssou N’Dour and Angélique Kidjo all made their North American débuts or early career-defining appearances.

True to its mission, this year’s festival will showcase the best of African, Caribbean and Latin American music. Over the course of 13 days, some 130 concerts and activities featuring more than 700 artists from 30 countries will liven up six indoor concert venues, plus two free outdoor stages in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles.

Here are the festival’s eight indoor concert series:

Les Grands Événements Series

• African megastar Oumou Sangaré transports us to the heart of the Wassoulou musical traditions, July 7 at MTELUS.
• Labess of Algeria, July 12 at Le National.
• La Guinée rend hommage au Baobab de Nuit de Montréal will honour Lamine Touré, July 11 at MTELUS.

Prestige Series

• La Nuit de la Kora avec Senny Camara and Yamoussa Bangoura showcases the understated virtuosos of this legendary instrument, July 8 at Le Gesù. 
• Kiya Tabassian & Ablaye Cissoko engage in a sublime acoustic dialogue between the setar and the Mandinka kora, July 9 at Le Gesù.

The Voix du Monde series

• Diva Melodji blends traditional Chadian rhythms with blues, soul, R&B and jazz (July 9).
• The Two from Switzerland and Mauritius are nourished by Mascarene blues, Creole, sega and maloya (July 13).
• Music legend Chris Combette from French Guyana blends reggae, biguine, calypso, bossa nova and jazz (July 15).
• Forró das comadres from Brazil (July 18).

All shows at Club Balattou.

Les Incontournables series

• The BIM (BENIN INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL) collective performs a special show of major African classics from the 1970s to today. July 8 at Théâtre Fairmount.
• Afirka revives the popular spirit of raï, chaoui and Kabyle music. July 8 at Club Balattou.
• Les Griots de Montréal. July 10 at Club Balattou.
• Team Salsa Sextet elevates Afro-descendant sounds with a generous dose of improvisation and swing. July 11 at Club Balattou.
• Sabor 19 performs fiery salsa and cumbia straight out of a Havana cabaret. July 17 at Club Balattou.

Les Étoiles Nuits d’Afrique series

Nine evening concerts featuring five outstanding artists or bands and their special guests. Unique collaborations for a different experience each evening:

• Congolese rumba with Les Étoiles de la RDC avec Guynard & the new formule (July 7).
• Get your ndombolo moves ready for the soukous and rumba of Les Étoiles de la RDC avec Myster Jay (July 8).
• Congolese rumba and soukous in their purest tradition with Les Étoiles de la RDC avec Blaise Labamba et Kotakoli (July 9).
• A leading light in Haitian music, Les Étoiles d’Haïti avec Wesli combines banda, rara, petro and nago rhythms, both acoustically and electrically, with Afrobeat and reggae elements (July 12, 13 and 14). 
• Subtle reggae inflections with Les Étoiles mandingues avec Tonton Idriss (July 15, 16 and 19).

All shows at Club Balattou.

Nuits d’Afrique Sound System Series

The new generation of World Music 2.0:

• Soul of Zoo samples sounds of nature and voices from around the world, July 10 at Le Ministère.
• In the purest sound-system tradition, Blast from the Past presented by Yarra Sound emphasizes Afro, Caribbean, Latin, reggae, Indian and tropical dance rhythms collected from around the globe. A vinyl retrospective of highlights to celebrate FINA’s 40th anniversary. July 11 at Le Ministère.

Les Révélations Series

This series presents the new faces of world music: 

• Los Vega from Mexico draws on five generations of family tradition, driven by the heel‑stomping of zapateado and rich percussion (July 7). 
• Zal Sissokho & Laurent Perrault-Jolicoeur showcase the kora and the double bass (July 12).
• Guiss Guiss Bou Bess from Senegal features Senegalese drums and raw beats (July 14).
• Kozé shares the folklore from their Reunion Island (July 16).
• The Raíz Viva quintet explore their cumbia roots with a focus on wind instruments and percussion (July 19). 

All shows at Club Balattou.

Global Beat Series

This series focuses on traditional rhythms revisited by the latest trends: 

• Adil Smaâli & Elements Of Baraka from Morocco mesmerize by intertwining Gnawa vocals, the guembri, and  the krakeb with the rich textures of dub and psytrance. July 9 at Le Ministère.
• The rising star of the new Afro-reggae scene, Sika Rlion from Reunion Island, July 12 at Le Ministère.

The Village des Nuits d’Afrique

Beneath the sun and stars, Nuits d’Afrique presents six days of free outdoor activities and concerts from July 14 to 19 on the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles and the Esplanade Tranquille.

The open-air dance workshops, the children’s village, Cabaret Nuits d’Afrique, the Timbuktu Market and the Promenade des Saveurs food court are all back this year.

Free outdoor concerts

These exciting and entirely free concerts from July 14 to 19 draw huge crowds. 

The outdoor Les Grands Événements TD Series on the TD stage on the Parterre du Quartier des spectacle has booked top international headliners:

• AFRIQUE EN CIRQUE presented by KALABANTÉ from Guinea. This year Afrique en Cirque celebrates its 40th anniversary with a large-scale production specially conceived for the occasion (July 14).
• Systema Solar from Colombia mix cumbia, champeta, bullerengue, hip-hop, and electro (July 15).
• Fulu Miziki from the Democratic Republic of the Congo transforms the sounds of Kinshasa’s streets into an Afro‑futurist techno‑punk trance infused with Congolese rumba and coupé‑décalé, a style they call twerkanda (July 16).
• Antillean reggae‑dancehall superstar Admiral T from Guadeloupe (July 17).
• Tabou Combo from Haiti blends kompa with rara, merengue, funk, rock and soukous (July 18).
• Ivorian reggae superstar Tiken Jah Fakoly closes the festival, as he also did in 2000 when he was bedridden in a Montreal hotel room recuperating from malaria for three days before he “willed” himself onstage. “That concert is the one that has most marked my career,” Fakoly told me. The African reggae icon takes the stage on July 19 at 10 p.m.

Femmes du Monde Series 

The outdoor Femmes du Monde Series on the Loto-Québec stage on the Esplanade Tranquille highlights the powerful presence of women in world music with headliners Suraras do Tapajós from Brazil, the first all-female carimbó group (July 14); singer Sahra Halgan from Somaliland (July 15); Somos Más (July 16) and Taafé Fanga (July 17); the soul‑tinged Congolese traditions of Joyce N’Sana (July 18); and the soul dance of Elida Almeida from Cape Verde (July 19).

The 40th edition of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique runs from July 7 to 19, 2026. Click here for dates and times of all shows.