Fela Kuti was born on 15 October 1938. Every October since the late 1990s, Lagos has marked the date with a week of music, debate and dancing called Felabration.
The centre of it is the New Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, a large open-sided hall opened in 2000 by two of Fela’s children, the saxophonist Femi Kuti and the organiser Yeni Kuti. It is the successor to the original Afrika Shrine, the club where Fela performed and preached in the 1970s and 1980s.
The original Shrine
Fela’s first Afrika Shrine was his nightclub and performance space in Lagos. He played there regularly, delivering long songs and political speeches, and his audience ranged from students and workers to celebrities and visiting stars. The Shrine was also a spiritual space, where Fela paid respects to African gods and ancestors. After Fela’s death in 1997, the original Shrine closed.
A new Shrine
Femi and Yeni Kuti opened the New Afrika Shrine in 2000 to keep their father’s legacy alive and give Lagos a home for live music. Femi, a Grammy-nominated Afrobeat musician in his own right, performs there regularly with his band, and his son Made Kuti has also played there. The venue hosts concerts, political events, film screenings and parties, and many foreign visitors to Lagos make it a stop.
Felabration
Felabration, started by Yeni Kuti in 1998, runs for a week around Fela’s birthday. It includes concerts featuring Afrobeat, Afrobeats, hip-hop and highlife artists, debates on politics and society, art exhibitions and dance competitions. Many of Nigeria’s biggest stars have performed on its stage, and it has become one of the most important annual events in Lagos music.
The festival also celebrates Fela’s politics: his criticism of military rule, corruption and colonial mentality. Debates during the week often address current issues in Nigeria, in the spirit of his songs.
Fela’s continuing influence
Fela’s music has found new generations of fans through the Broadway musical Fela!, documentaries and reissues, and the Afrobeats stars of today regularly cite him. Burna Boy, whose grandfather Benson Idonije was Fela’s first manager, draws openly on his legacy.
October 2026
Felabration arrives in Lagos again this month. For Afrobeat fans visiting Nigeria, it is the week to be at the Shrine.
Kalakuta Museum
Fela’s later home on Gbemisola Street in Ikeja was turned into the Kalakuta Museum, opened in 2012. It holds his bedroom, clothes, instruments and personal items, and his grave is at the house. Visitors to Felabration often combine a night at the Shrine with a visit to the museum, a short drive away, to see where Fela lived and was buried.
Fela once turned his home into a “republic” in defiance of the Nigerian state. His children turned a hall in Ikeja into a place where his birthday is celebrated by thousands every year.
