Bassline Fest is honoured to be celebrating Africa Day with queen of Afro soul Lira on the 25th of May at Constitution Hill. This will be her first show, with a band, after two years recovering from a stroke. The festival will start at 3pm and end at 11pm. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster starting from R270 to R430.
The Bassline Fest is grateful to its supporting partner the Department of Sport Arts & Culture for coming on-board in the support of the live music industry and in celebration of Africa Month and 30 years of Democracy, also its associate partner Castle Lite. “We also say thank you to Music In Africa, who are and have been Bassline Fest supporters for many years. What all this support does, is aid the live music industry as a whole, as it creates work for the full live music industry eco-system from production, marketing, performing service providers and artists. It also creates a place for festival goers to escape while getting entranced by the artistic talent and to get entertained and have some fun!” says Brad Holmes of Bassline Live.
Lira is thrilled to announce her first live performance, with a band, since suffering a stroke whilst in Frankfurt, Germany for a performance in March 2022, which left her unable to read, write or speak.
“People were initially interested in my recovery journey and, as time went by, started asking when I would perform again. I have been practicing to perform as part of my recovery and have come to accept that the old Lira is gone. I wondered who the new Lira would be and have been getting to know her and feel ready to share her with the public,” says Lira.
“I am so excited and looking forward to being on stage again to perform at Bassline Fest Africa Day Celebration on Saturday 25 May 2024. What makes this performance extra special is that not only are we, in South Africa, celebrating 30 years of democracy, but we are also celebrating the new Lira as well as the Bassline’s 30th Anniversary. I have so much to be grateful for and look forward to seeing you at Constitution Hill Square on Africa Day.”
“Lira has gone from stroke to singing health.” Says Bassline Fest’s Paige Holmes. “She calls this her ‘Stroke of Luck.” Lira explains, “My stroke was a blessing as it has given me a second chance at life. Many people survive from having a stroke but the damage to their brain leaves them permanently scarred and not able to move their bodies and I feel extremely lucky that physically I have not been affected and the new me has accepted that my brain has been damaged, so I speak slower and need to learn to stay calm as stress affects my ability to communicate. I’m still recovering and I will get better with time and I’m so grateful for that.”
Lira has spent the past two years working tirelessly on regaining her speech and her ability to read and write. Since Lira was in Germany, her speech therapy was in English and initially she was only able to communicate in English. “Learning to speak and sing in Sotho and Zulu has been extremely difficult, without any vernacular speech therapy, and I only spoke the languages from memory with random people such as cashiers and petrol attendants. They have really helped me. I am constantly setting little goals for myself to master the languages. I’m working on it…”
Bassline Fest’s Brad Holmes is delighted to host Lira’s return.” We welcome Lira back onto stage as we celebrate many occasions; Lira’s return, Africa Day, 30 years of our Democracy and 30 years of Bassline. Bassline has been promoting original music from the whole of our African Continent since September 1994!”
Paige Holmes adds that another focus of Bassline Fest this year is that “We are focusing on the strength of our woman, celebrating the mothers and sisters who have the resilience, nurturing, courage, creativity and tenacity that keeps them going, their families going and in so doing, the continent going. This year is the year of gratitude to all the women; for us, these women represent our shared continent’s resilience, nurturing, courage, creativity and tenacity. “
“Happy Africa Day” she says, welcoming everyone in the city to come celebrate with song, dance, food and fun. “There will be an African artisanal market selling all manner of exquisitely creative African food, arts and craft, as well as bars and other food and drink stalls. Bassline Fest will be announcing the rest of the lineup at a later stage.”
DETAILS
Venue: Constitution Hill
Start time: 15.00
End time: 23.00
Tickets: At Ticketmaster starting from R270 to R430 (Inclusive of fees) https://www.ticketmaster.co.za/artist/bassline-fest-tickets/1259603
Limited: Earlybird R270, Phase 1 R320, Phase 2 R380 & Final Phase R430 (Inclusive of fees). Be quick, no FOMO allowed!
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