Arriva announced as sponsor for Africa Oyé

On Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23 thousands of people are expected to attend Africa Oyé in Sefton Park.

The free festival is a carnival of culture and music from Africa, the Caribbean and Diaspora. There are also dance, art and craft workshops and a funfair.

Africa Oyé has been a mainstay on the city’s cultural calendar for more than 30 years.

As Merseyside’s biggest bus operator, Arriva will be transporting festival goers on both days, and to mark the event, Arriva’s buses are displaying large Africa Oyé adverts.

Arriva has partnered with the massive community event as one of the cornerstones of Africa Oyé is about encouraging people to leave the car at home, in favour of public transport.

A number of road closures will be in effect over the weekend, so taking the bus is a better option to ensure you won’t miss any of the festivities.

Richard Hoare, Area Director for Arriva North West, said:

“We’re really proud to be supporting such an important cultural event.

Our ethos is about connecting communities and we’re proud to be part of the rich cultural and musical heritage Liverpool has, so it’s our pleasure to back Africa Oyé and we hope this year will be as successful as all the other years it’s been going.

And of course we’d encourage people to use one of our many services to take them to the event as it’s a value-for-money and more sustainable option.”

Paul Duhaney, Africa Oyé’s Artistic Director, said:

“We’re always encouraging our festival audience to pick a greener option when it comes to travelling to the festival, and this partnership with Arriva is a great step towards cutting down the number of cars trying to reach the festival site over the weekend.

“We’re very grateful for Arriva’s support in spreading the word via the adverts on their buses – everyone is commenting on how good they look, and they’ve made a real impact.”