Ake Arts & Book Festival 2015

The official app for the 2015 Ake Arts & Book Festival. Browse the festival schedule, learn about festival guests, and register to attend.

Celebrating creativity in Africa, Ake Festival is 5 days of cultural immersion.

The Ake Arts and Book Festival is a five-day programme of cultural, artistic and literature-focused events. These include readings, workshops, master classes, performances, panel discussions, stage plays, film screenings, art exhibitions, school visits and a comprehensive book fair to which pupils, publishers, book lovers and the general public are invited to visit.

Each year, about 100 writers, filmmakers, poets, dancers, academics, actors and thinkers are invited to the festival to have honest and constructive conversations about issues and themes that are pertinent to Africa. The Ake festival is fast becoming one of Africa’s cultural hubs; several literary communities and organisations collaborate with Ake Festival to make announcements about initiatives and prizes, thereby taking advantage of the growing number of creatives that attend the festival every year. Ake Festival is renowned for the atmosphere it creates and the book bargains. The festival bookstore stocks over 4000 books.

The third Ake Arts & Book Festival which will take place on 17-21 November will feature over 80 guests comprising writers, poets, actors, musicians, artists and cultural icons from Nigeria and all over Africa and beyond. Examples are world-renowned author and activist Niyi Osundare, Maaza Mengiste, Chris Abani, Taiye Selasi, Howard French, Mona Eltahawy, Tendai Huchu, Helon Habila and many more.

Ake Festival takes place in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State. Only an hour’s drive from Lagos, it is a city of historical and cultural significance, home to one of the most famous tourist attractions in Nigeria: Olumo Rock. The Festival is named after Ake, one of the ancient communities of the city, which is also the birthplace of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. The first in his series of memoirs is called Ake. Adults, children, readers, pupils, university students, academics, anthropologists, historians, political scientists, booksellers, authors and culture enthusiasts find Ake Festival very enriching.