Say YO! to Europe

(© Matt Hass)

José Manuel Barroso, Herman Van Rompuy, and Martin Schulz will be there. As will Alpha Blondy, I’m from Barcelona, and Sir Yes Sir. On the last two days in May, the European Youth Forum is organising both a series of debates and workshops, and a one-night music festival, not only to treat political freaks to a free concert, but also to show music fans that European politics is perhaps not the distant, irrelevant reality they thought it was. The awareness raising begins on Thursday afternoon at a musical picnic with entertainment by DJ Kong from the digital jukebox platform 22tracks. The President of the European Council has promised to bring his picnic basket along. YO!Fest has been taking place since 2010, and is organised during European Youth Week, primarily as a way to mobilise youth organisations and their members. During the fourth edition, a special campaign with the leitmotif “Make Your Choice” will be launched to prepare young people for the European elections in 2014. In the evening, you can blow off steam with a wide range of styles and genres. The Brussels-based rock band Meridians and Tommy Green and the Blues Machine, the winners of the rock competition organised by the European Youth Forum, will kick-start the music festival. There is more Belgian talent on the programme with Oscar and the Wolf and Sir Yes Sir, but the biggest name is reggae legend Alpha Blondy. He will be presenting his latest album, Mystic Power. But most strikingly, there will be an enormous number of people onstage: the local musical nomads of La Fanfare du Belgistan have seven members, the Gangbé Brass Band is coming from Benin with eight members, and the Swedish collective I’m from Barcelona has no less than 29 musicians. Right now – on 1 July Croatia is acceding to the EU – that is exactly two more members than there are European member states.

YO!Fest 30 & 31/5, 11.00, Esplanade van het Europees Parlement/Esplanade du Parlement Européen, www.yofest.eu