Music is Black Festival to launch in London's Olympic Park next month

A new celebration of Black music is coming to London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park next month.

Entitled after the recently-launched exhibition at V&A East, Music Is Black Festival is being organised by the Mayor of London-backed East Bank, and will feature four weekends of free-to-attend music programming from June to September.

East Bank is a new project which will see the nearby centres of V&A East, Sadler's Wells, BBC Music Studios, UCL and the London College of Fashion collaborate on a series of events exploring Black British music and its impact on contemporary culture.

Read this next: V&A East to showcase exhibition on Black British music

Each weekend will consist of a different "theme", the first, 'The Music is Ours', will take place from June 13 - 14 with a line-up curated by Footsie and The King Original Soundsystem,  YolanDa Brown, Soul Mama, My Runway Group and Kloé Dean.

The second weekend, themed 'Power Is Respect', will be curated by Jamz Supernova, BORN N BREAD, Yazmin Lacey, TYSON and Jade Hackett, while the third, themed 'Queer Frequencies', is curated by Shy One, Donnie Sunshine, Mark-Ashley Dupé, Joel Mignott and Zinzi Minott. 

The final weekend of Music Is Black Festival will take place on September 12 - 13, and will be based around the theme 'Black to the Future' with curation from FLOHIO, The Blues Project and Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe. 

East London's Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be the location of two stages for the Music Is Black Festival, while a third - The Dancefloor is Black - will be set within Sadler’s Wells East. 

“This year, East Bank truly comes alive," says East Bank Director Tamsin Ace. "After more than 25 years working in the arts, I remain continually inspired by the spirit of collaboration that defines our sector and especially by the scale and ambition of what East Bank has achieved." 

"Building on a rich tapestry of partnership and creativity, we have brought together major institutions with a shared commitment to engaging communities and reimagining how we tell our collective stories from multiple perspectives," she continues.

"The result is the launch of the new festival from East Bank. In its inaugural year, the festival celebrates Black British music, marking not only a landmark cultural moment but also a powerful statement of East Bank’s commitment to collaboration, representation, and shared storytelling."

For more information on Music Is Black Festival, click here.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, get in touch with her here.