There are very few people, over the past decade, who have done as much for live music and the sheer appreciation of Kenyan and African sounds and artists as Muthoni Drummer Queen (MDQ if you’re nasty).
Through her progressive extremely artistic hands, Blankets and Wine has grown from a small, hyper niche monthly event, to a behemoth of culture and sound.
And it hasn’t remained static – morphing into three distinct outfits that represent various
Blankets & Wine “is a high-quality quarterly showcase featuring ground-breaking artists with global appeal. The festival also offers a smorgasbord of creative genres including music, art, design and fashion curated around core “Urban African Lifestyle” experiences….”
Africa Nouveau “was birthed in September 2015, as an annual 2-day festival. The festival aims to bring together artists, creatives, cultural influencers and social trendsetters from all over Africa to create and express the ‘New African Dream’…”
And
GoodTimes Africa – “a pan-African platform for staging the most exciting live events across the region through a series of events around music, via the brands: Blankets & Wine, Africa Dance Party, Africa Nouveau and Live in Concert.”
Muthoni has released a teaser of what we should expect over the next 11 months of 2017. She hasn’t as yet gone into much detail, but already, our entertainment calendar is shaping up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BP7yMp-jHom/
Last year proved a ridiculously successful year for Blankets – which hosted the legends Kool and The Gang as well as Estelle, Aloe Blacc and some amazing moments with the absolute sensation Chronixx and the Zinc Fence Redemption Band – possibly one of the best reggae events that I’ve been to on Kenyan soil in a minute.
Blankets and everything that surrounds it has become a movement that supports the creative journey in Africa – and probably the reason why it has managed to maintain its exemplary status in Kenya after all these years. It’s not just about music – but everything that revolves around it – the fashion, the art, the literature and the love that allows people to both revel as well as share their experiences with the next.
Here’s to Blankets and Wine in 2017!
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[Image: Feromoon]
