Culture

Dance / Music

In Angola, the dance and the music distinguish different genres, meanings, forms and contexts, balancing the recreational aspect with its status as a means of religious communication, healing, ritual and even social intervention. Not restricted to the traditional and popular level, it is manifested also by contemporary languages​​.

The constant presence of dance and music in the Angolan daily life, is the product of an appealing cultural context for the internalization of rhythmic structures. Starting by close contact with family, friends and neighbors, this link is strengthened through the involvement of young people in different social celebrations, since young people are the ones who engage themselves the most in artistic and cultural events, where dancing and music in particular and culture in general are revealed determinants as factors of integration and preservation of Angolan identity.

Angola eventually also suffers mixtures with other cultures currently present in Brazil, Mozambique and Cape Verde. With this, Angola today showcases the most diverse musical styles, the main being: Semba, Kizomba and Kuduro.

Events

Some of the typical parties of Angola are:

• Sea Parties

These traditional festivals called ”Sea Parties”, take place in the town of Namibe. These festivals are derived from an old tradition with respect to culture, recreation and sports. They usually take place during the summer season and it is common to make exhibitions of products related to agriculture, fisheries, construction, oil and Agro-cattle.

• Carnival

Each year, several carnival groups parade in the main streets of Luanda and Benguela.

• Feasts of Our Lady of Muxima

The Muxima’s sanctuary is located in the Municipality of Kissama, Bengo province and throughout the year receives thousands of faithful. It is a very popular festival which takes place every year and inevitably attracts many tourists for its religious characteristics.