manifesto TOBi

Toronto’s Manifesto Festival teams up with its counterpart in Jamaica for an all-day virtual show this weekend

This Saturday, Aug. 29, the Manifesto Toronto annual music festival will go online for a landmark 12-hour live-stream event alongside Manifesto Jamaica. Headlining the event is Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae artist Koffee, who will be live-streaming from Jamaica.

At 19, Koffee is the youngest performer and first female to receive the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. She is also the only woman to hit the Top 10 Reggae Albums chart at year-end. Koffee will be streaming her concert set live from Kingston, Jamaica, and will be supported by Nigerian-Canadian singer TOBi who will be streaming live from Toronto’s Great Hall.

Manifesto’s live event will include many other local acts, including Dijah SB, LU KALA, and Osé. In addition to a strong lineup of local and international music artists, Manifesto will also be showcasing film screenings, spoken word performances, dance artists, visual arts performances, yoga movements, and an after-party featuring local DJs.

The festival’s “New World” theme pays homage to the current 2020 art scene that’s in a tremendous flux state.

 

manifesto koffee
Koffee

“Manifesto has always been committed to mobilizing and celebrating hip-hop culture and beyond (i.e. R&B, reggae, soca, etc.) within the communities we serve. In light of the global pandemic and urgent social justice movement for Black people, we wanted to gather both here in Toronto and with our sister organization, Manifesto Jamaica, based in Jamaica. This major collaboration is allowing for us to reimagine, dismantle, and unify via the arts, and take action in 2020 for a more equitable future,” says Tinesha Richards Morris, Manifesto’s operations and partnerships manager.

Toronto influencer Sashagai Ruddock will host the virtual event from The Great Hall, and programming will start at 12:05 p.m. and will run past midnight. TOBi will take the stage at 6:45 p.m. followed by Koffee at 7:20 p.m. The after-party DJ set starts at 8:05 p.m.

Manifesto Festival is one of Canada’s largest community and culture events. The annual festival is known to help promote young artists. Manifesto 14 is a free event that can be accessed via MNFSTO.com. Follow the Manifesto Instagram account for updates.

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO