From African sailors and abolitionists to contemporary artists, Hull has a Black history that is rarely spoken about. This October, Felabration UK brings Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat and legacy to the north of England, coinciding with his birthday week and Black History Month. Fágbèmí Ọ̀ṣìnúgà, founder of The Gidi Vibes
, curates the festival, connecting history, rhythm, and community in a celebration of African creativity across the diaspora.
There’s a saying in Nigerian Pidgin: “Wetin you dey find for Sokoto dey for your shokoto.” What you’re searching for far and wide is often already close to you.
That thought has been with me as I prepare for Felabration 2025 — not in Lagos, London, or Lisbon, but in Hull, in the north of England.
To most Nigerians, Hull is not the first city that comes to mind when thinking of Black history or African culture. Yet, Hull has a deeper Black story than many realise, one that stretches back long before multiculturalism became a buzzword.
This port city has always been a gateway. From African and Caribbean sailors who travelled through here centuries ago, to abolitionists who fought against slavery, to artists and students who found their creative pulse here, Black lives have been woven into the city’s rhythm for generations.
Even William Wilberforce, Hull’s most famous son, was shaped by that connection. His lifelong campaign against the slave trade began here, where ships once sailed to the same coasts that would later give birth to Afrobeat. That tension, between oppression and freedom, silence and song, is what makes Hull such a fitting place to host Felabration.
When we first brought Felabration to Hull in 2024, I did not know what to expect. The goal was simple: to celebrate Fela Kuti’s music, message, and movement. But what happened went deeper. The people of Hull embraced it. The energy was raw and curious, a sense of recognition, like something long-forgotten had finally come home.
Hull understands rhythm and resistance. This is a city of tides — of movement, exchange, and evolution. In that way, it mirrors Lagos: both cities know what it means to wrestle with identity, to find beauty in struggle, to turn chaos into creation.
This year, as we prepare for Felabration 2025: Shakara – Bold Expressions of Afrobeat, we are not just staging a festival. We are honouring a lineage. Hull’s Black history is not an import — it is a continuation.
Of course, building a platform like this now isn’t without challenges. Immigration laws have tightened, the cost of living has risen, and priorities have shifted. Many in the diaspora are focused on survival, paperwork, stability, and remittances. Yet even in that, there is something profoundly human and political about gathering for music, art, and community. Afrobeat was born as a mirror — reflecting truth to power, challenging injustice, and celebrating resilience and joy even in the face of hardship.
Felabration in Hull is not nostalgia. It is a connection, across continents, generations, and struggles. It is what happens when a sound born in Kalakuta meets a city shaped by Wilberforce. When African rhythm meets English rebellion. When art becomes activism all over again.
Hull today is home to a growing Black and African presence — artists, students, and entrepreneurs whose energy and creativity add new layers to the city’s identity. As a member of the Hull Music Board and through The Gidi Vibes, the platform I founded to showcase African creativity in the diaspora, I have seen this transformation up close. From music showcases to art exhibitions and comedy nights, each event reminds us that the African voice is not just visiting Hull, it is becoming part of its future.
And this October, that voice will roar louder. Felabration is deliberately timed to fall around 15 October, Fela Kuti’s birthday — a moment to honour not only his music and legacy but the spirit of resistance and joy he championed.
On 18 October 2025, Hull will come alive with Felabration, part of Black History Month, under the theme Shakara – Bold Expressions of Afrobeat. We are expanding the experience with exhibitions, thought leadership panels, and live music performances, creating a platform where art, dialogue, and rhythm intersect. Looking further ahead, we are developing a new African-rooted musical tracing Fela’s intergenerational legacy through the eyes of his children. Ambitious? Absolutely, but then, so was Fela’s vision.
Walking along Hull’s docks today, I think about the ships that once carried enslaved Africans across oceans, and about how history has a strange way of looping back. The same waters that once carried pain now carry rhythm. The same city that once hosted abolitionist speeches will now host Afrobeat’s defiant joy.
That is not irony — it is restoration.
So, if you are reading this from Lagos, Accra, London, or anywhere in between, know that something special is happening in Hull. Felabration here is not an export of African culture. It is a reawakening of shared history.
Sometimes, what we have been searching for across continents — validation, audience, belonging — has been close all along. Hull’s story reminds us: Black history does not belong to one continent. It travels, adapts, and returns — carried by music, memory, and movement.
And on the night of 18th October 2025, when Afrobeat fills the air in Hull again, it will not just be a block party. It will be proof that history, when reclaimed, can dance.
Fágbèmí Ọ̀ṣìnúgà is a UK-based Nigerian marketing consultant, cultural curator, and founder of The Gidi Vibes platform. A lifelong student of Afrobeat, he leads the curation of Felabration UK, celebrating African creativity and heritage across the diaspora.
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