Multi-cultural Montréal is a hotbed of world music year-round but goes into musical overdrive during the annual Festival International Nuits d’Afrique. Founded in 1987 by Montréal legend Lamine Touré, the festival showcases more than 700 artists from 30 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
World music superstars and rising stars headline seven concert series, six indoor concert venues as well as six days (during the second week of the festival) of free outdoor performances in the Nuits d’Afrique Village on the Parterre of the Quartier des Spectacles.
In addition to local and international acts performing outdoors in the Nuits d’Afrique Village, there are free activities and workshops for the entire family, including an expanded Children’s Village, an array of food and drink vendors offering dishes from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the festival's souvenir shop, and the legendary Timbuktu Market filled with dozens of craftspeople and merchants, selling jewelry, paintings, sculptures and exclusive African robes.
The Festival also awards its annual Nuits d’Afrique Francophonie prize to an internationally renowned artist who embodies a unifying vision of francophonie and cultural diversity.