Rita Marley will be the patron of the second edition of the 24h du reggae in Abidjan, on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 April 2014, at the Palais de la culture in the Ivorian capital.
After a first edition in December 2012, the second was due to be held in December 2013 but was finally postponed to April, because Bob Marley's widow was unavailable.
Rita Marley, who has based her foundation in neighbouring Ghana, will attend the opening night on Friday 4 April. The festival programme includes workshops and a conference on Rastafari, a trade and food fair, and concerts by Ivorians Kajeem (co-organiser of the event) and Ismael Isaac, as well as Ras Goody Brown and Kalujah (residents of the village of Vridi), and Sana Bob (Burkina Faso). Queen Omega and France's Tomawok are also announced, not to mention dancers, percussionists and sound systems.
With the theme "reggae in the service of humanitarian work", the festival has forged partnerships with three associations working for children in the country (schooling, health, training…), for the children of the Rasta village of Vridi, which was razed in 2012, and for the integration of disabled children.