DATHLIAD CYMRU AFFRICA (Thursday): BCUC, Afro Cluster, The Successors of the Mandingue All Stars & Eve Goodman

The Successors of the Mandingue will be presenting an impressive seven-piece band: standard bearers of authentic Mandinka culture, each artist is a star in their own right, steeped in the West African griot (or djeli) bardic tradition of preserving the stories and histories of its people through music, dance, and song. Hailing from Guinea, Senegal, The Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso; their musical vocabularies are rooted in the same shared ancient traditions that spanned the ancient Mandingue Empire.

For Dathliad Cymru-Affrica, a special collaboration has been commissioned between N’famady Kouyaté (Artistic Director of The Successors of the Mandingue) and Eve Goodman to bring the folk traditions of West Africa and Wales together in a single piece, celebrating the ancient cultural traditions and languages of their countries of origin. N’famady and Eve first met when they both represented Wales at Celtic Connections in 2022 and we are excited to hear the work they have been creating.