(upbeat music) - The AfroFuture Festival has been going on in Ghana since 2017.

And now this is its first year happening in the US, and they have chosen Detroit for AfroFuture Detroit Festival happening this weekend.

Tell me a bit about what the festival is and why they chose Detroit for the US debut.

- AfroFuture is something unique to this world, right?

It is truly a festival that combinates the culture in so many different ways.

It's less of a concert and more of an experience, for those who love music, those who love fashion, those who love film, art, food, so much in one festival that truly combinates like the African diaspora in such a unique way.

- How did Bedrock come to be involved?

- For us, it's all about bridging the community.

So for Detroit, we truly just like to do things that speak to the DNA of the city, make sure that we have intentional programming, you know, whether it be through Parker's Alley or whether it be through other festivals or concerts and conferences that we've had here, right?

- And we're here on the festival grounds.

- Yes, we are.

- Tell me a bit about this place and what's happening here.

- Well, the Douglass Site is a very special site.

This is, I would say, almost like a birth of creation through music, right?

You know, this is where we had the Brewster-Douglass Projects, we had Diana Ross live here, we had Smokey Robinson live here, right?

Some of the most iconic names a part of this landscape.

And now we get to relive it through a festival that speaks to a global narrative.

And so it's really special to be here on this site.

It's special to have it here and I think the artists are gonna feel that same energy as well.

- And now you mentioned the artists, of course tell me a bit about who the artists are.

- Oh, I'm really excited about that.

- Who they're gonna be.

- So we have show-stomping talent.

We have Asake.

We have Davido.

We have Ludmilla hailing from Brazil.

That's like the Beyonce of Brazil.

And so we're really excited to help bring that presence here as well.

We have Kaytranada coming representing for Toronto, but also just he's the summer god.

And so we're excited to have him here this summer on the site.

- And I assume there's gonna be a lot of Detroit talent highlighted as well?

- Absolutely, we have a Tee Grizzly, that's gonna be on the site, but we also have a number of DJs.

This is a DJ city.

So we have Donavan Glover, Ethereal, we have Jasmine Jeanine, we have Blakito, right?

And also Mo Beatz, which is Big Sean's DJ as well.

So we're really excited to showcase Detroit talent on this main stage, and also on our culture stage, there'll be two stages.

For our culture stage, that's essentially our party stage.

Our party stage is a host of different party promoters, not only in the Midwest, but also throughout the nation as well, coming from the West Coast, New York, and really kind of highlight and amplify all the creative energy that's here already.

But we're also gonna have a lot more Amapiano and Guam music that will be on that stage.

And for our main stage, that's where we'll host our big lead-up acts, but also our headlining acts as well.

So it's something for everyone, everybody could get a beautiful sound, beautiful energy, and just capture the energetic vibe that's in this city, but also on this site.

- And now speaking of Detroit artists- - There you go.

(laughing) - you won the design contest for the official t-shirt for the festival.

Tell me a bit about that contest and, you know, how you came to be a part of this.

- So I was reached out to through Pensole Lewis College, which is a first HBCU here in Michigan.

And it focuses on design elements, from footwear, fashion design, within apparel and accessories and beyond.

I was a student there earlier this year, I did a program with accessories, and then I'm returning later on this fall.

My design background is really all my life.

I've always liked to paint, do fashion design.

So really when I received this email to participate, I wanted to really captivate all of what Detroit is, as well as what Ghana is.

- All right, so, Veronica, can you show us the t-shirt design?

- Yes, I'm very excited to show you the design.

The design being called "Rhythm Runs Through Us."

I wanted to really captivate that.

So I really highlighted like Africa and I went through some research, a lot of research actually, to really highlight all the different kente cloths, which are really prominent in each country in Africa.

So we have ankara and more that are included.

And then I also highlighted the prominent areas in Detroit, some of our artifacts here.

So we have the spirit of Detroit, the Joe Louis fist and everything like that.

And then I have some threads going around the globe to really show how we're threaded together and that the rhythm is really running from the motherland to Motown.

And then when I switch to the back, we can really see all of the artists and all of the participants, from hosts and DJs, really being included on that as well.

And this is paying homage to Motown as well with the vinyl record player.

- Absolutely.

- And then one more thing.

With the bling, I wanted to highlight the bling.

In Africa, we love the bling.

In Detroit, we love our bling.

So that was just another connection.

And what I really wanted to encapsulate in the design was really all of the diaspora together.

So when somebody looks at the shirt and wears the shirt, I want them to be able to feel themselves like included in the design.

- Now, for people who might be, you know, traveling to Detroit from other parts of the country or other parts of the world, since this is such a global festival, what are you hoping people who aren't from here, you know, see about Detroit, learn about Detroit, take away about this city after this weekend?

- I really do want people to walk away with a piece of the city and capture like the DNA of what Detroit actually is, not what the perception of the world may perceive it to be.

This is one of the most hospitable cities with real love here, real culinary tastes.

Like you can service my appetite through music and food, you got me sold.

And that's all Detroit, it's truly just an inspiring city, and anything that you can make happen, you can make happen here.

So we really wanna highlight that.

When you're at this festival, you're getting Detroit at every corner.