So that was it folks. The next time we meet in May 2016, Africa Night will finally be an adult! The April edition of Africa Night Tilburg is as such the end of the pre-adult era. The party begins in less than a month during Africa Night Rotterdam (7-5-2016) at C5 Jazz in Rotterdam. (Check out the website).
Where were you in 1998 when we started what has now become officially the longest running monthly Africa-themed party in Europe?
You might not realise how far Africa Night has come. Let us take you on a short journey through the memory lane. We don’t have any pictures or videos of the first 5 years. That is because when we started in 1998 there were no digital cameras! In 1998 (just 18 years ago) commercial internet was just starting. Our first website was a free one called africanight.tmfweb.nl. In those days people connected to the internet through the landline telephones. KPN was the only provider in The Netherlands then. To download a 4mb song you needed about 30 minutes. Now you can download a whole album in less than 1 minute!
Facebook, Google, Twitter, Youtube, Whatsapp, Snapchat, smartphone, I-pad, you name it, they all came after Africa Night! When Africa Night started, we actually had to explain to some people that we were not dancing naked in the hall! That we were not doing the rain dance and carrying spears and making strange noises! It is strange but true. Now even Radio 3 FM plays African music on a regular basis.
From The Boat (Albatros) to Paradox back to The Boat then to Bosvreugd to Partycentrum Oase and now to the current location Horeca T’Kwadraat, Africa Night has come a long way since her humble beginnings. Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Almere, Utrecht, Maastricht, Krefeld (Germany) and of course, Rotterdam are other places that have seen Africa Night come to their cities. And if the mountain does not go to Mohammed, Mohammed always goes to the mountain. So it is not a surprise that many of our guests have made many of these journeys with us. Many always come from far to enjoy the ambiance.
Looking at the guests during this April 2016 edition, a satisfactory smile came to our face. It was Africa Night the way we pictured in almost 18 years ago. That is, to have black/white, young/old, men/women, Christians/Muslims etc. all united by African music on the dance floor.
If you don’t mind, we are going to throw 2 parties in May. The first one will be on Saturday 7-5-2016 in Rotterdam. Everyone who arrives on time will get the first of our free commemorative CDs! The other one is of course in Tilburg (21-05-2016) where it all started 18 years earlier. The full programme will be announced later. Just keep an eye on the Africa Night Facebook page.
We have a couple of surprises for you between now and the Africa Night Tilburg in May 2016. Watch out for a look back at some of the old, never-been-seen-archive images of Africa Night. You can also expect some videos and some of the old Africa Night freemixes for free download!
Africa Night is almost 18 and we are determined to have a long celebration! Africa Night is finally old enough to vote! We are going to party from now till then!
