The story
Festi-Makossa in Douala
Festi-Makossa is Douala's annual celebration of makossa, the guitar-and-brass dance music that originated in the city in the mid-20th century and became one of Central Africa's most influential popular genres after Manu Dibango's global hit Soul Makossa. The festival brings together veteran makossa musicians, younger artists and dance troupes for concerts across the city.
Makossa emerged from Douala in the second half of the twentieth century out of a deep well of Sawa coastal musical practice, the ndolo funeral laments and ambasse bey guitar styles that had circulated along the Wouri estuary for generations.