The 31st annual Concert of Colors is set for July 19-23. The free, multicultural festival of music, poetry, and film showcases a range of genres including rap, reggae, rock, jazz, soul, gospel, and more.
Organizers announced the full lineup on Tuesday, which includes Bob Marley’s son Julian Marley, Cambodian psychedelic rock fusion group Dengue Fever, the Don Was All Star Revue’s tribute to Detroit jazz greats, Palestinian-American musician Simon Shaheen, jessica Care moore’s Daughters of Betty powered by Black Women Rock!, and Guinean acrobat group Kalabanté: Afrique En Cirque.
The diverse festival takes place mostly on the lawn of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the museum’s Detroit Film Theatre, but performances will also happen at the Arab American National Museum, The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Hellenic Museum of Michigan, Scarab Club, Detroit Historical Society Auditorium, Carr Center, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Third Man Records, the University of Michigan Detroit Center, and Michigan Science Center, among others.
“As Concert of Colors celebrates its 31st year as Detroit’s largest, free, inclusivity festival, we have made the decision to go back to the festival’s roots – hosting it primarily outdoors,” festival founder Ismael Ahmed said in a statement. “The festival once again brings the most talented musicians from their respective countries into Detroit to offer the region a chance to hear music from around the world. Historically the festival also provides artists an opportunity to perform at one of the most iconic festivals in the Midwest.”
Beyond music, the five-day festival also includes panel discussions on race and culture, an Indigenous pow wow, film screenings, food trucks, vendors, and children’s activities.
Additional music acts include Detroit’s Thronetta Davis, Kesswa, Indigenous rapper Soufy, Day Oshee Maatin, Mollywop, The Astro Mystic Sama Ensemble, reggae group Roots Vibration, Latin rockers Ecno: El Conjunto Nueva Ola, the Arab National Orchestra, and more.
Ahmed and New Detroit started Concert of Colors in 1993 as a way to bridge cultural differences through art in response to the 1982 murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin. The festival went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to an in-person format in 2022 to celebrate its 30th year.
For more information and the full schedule, see concertofcolors.com.
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