Expo Beats prepares for launch in Dubai

Featuring musical masters and exciting new talents, unique monthly festival Expo Beats gets into gear this Thursday, with World Beats running for three consecutive nights until Saturday.

Taking place at Jubilee Stage inside the Sustainability District, the first edition of the feast of music will entertain concert-goers with sounds and dance recitals spanning the globe, from Saudi Arabia to South Africa.

The eclectic line-up includes Kuwaiti-Saudi artist Bader Al Shuaibi, who released his first album, Something Different, in 2019.

A fan of fresh, never-heard-before mixes of cultures and sound, he recently collaborated with K-pop star AleXa on new track, ‘Is It On,’ as part of the Radar programme from Spotify.

Four-piece Lebanese pop-rock band Adonis celebrate their ten-year anniversary this year – with their performance at Expo 2020 a perfect place to mark this milestone.

Renowned for signature lyrics in Arabic and blistering live performances, Adonis have garnered a huge fanbase across the world thanks to their easily accessible mix of melancholia and optimism.

Hailing from Durban, South Africa, Zanda Zakuza is a house and kwaito singer and songwriter who achieved widespread popularity after featuring on singles Skeleton Move by Master KG and Club Controller by Prince Kaybee.

She will be joining forces with aforementioned musician and producer Master KG at Expo Beats, where the pair will set the night alight with African electro magic.

Cutting-edge collaborative band Naked are bringing their global urban grooves with distinctive influences from the Balkans to Expo, with an energetic performance incorporating gypsy violins, be-bop rhythms and urban wind instruments.

One of the pioneers of the Dubai electronic scene in the early to mid-2000s, Shadi Megallaa continuously pushes boundaries in his music.

His most recent achievement was opening independent Dubai record shop the Flip Side, a hub for the region’s music community.

At Expo Beats, he shares with the world his love of vinyl.

One of India’s most loved pop-rock bands, with more than nine million subscribers on YouTube, Sanam are taking their audience on a trip down memory lane, promising to bring everyone to their feet with an uplifting sing-and-sway-along set.

Having won the hearts of Quebecois and international audiences alike with their modernised, accessible traditional music, now Les Grands Hurleurs are playing their special blend of folk, classical and bluegrass to Expo’s diverse crowds, ahead of the release of their fifth album, Ellipse.

Pioneers of contemporary dance in the Middle East, Damascus’s Sima Dance Company promise a dynamic performance.

Founded in Syria in 2003 by choreographer Alaa Krimed, known for his unique works in the region, the dancers have been professionally trained in Germany, Japan, South Africa, Syria, the UAE, the UK and the US, allowing the company to benefit from various approaches to creative expression, while formulating their own artistic voice.

They are joined on the line-up by non-profit dance company Step Afrika!, who are dedicated to the African-American tradition of “stepping,” touring nationally and internationally to provide residencies and workshops as an educational tool.

A celebration of colour, creativity and culture, Expo Beats invites the world on an immersive journey of traditional and contemporary sounds and rhythms in new and exciting ways, with a new and unique bill every month.