The iconic band Freshlyground, who played a unifying role in South Africa's post-apartheid years, are now ready for Oslo Mela. There's also Palestinian indie artist Rasha Nahas offering genre-defying music and cultural resistance, Nordic Griots spreading love and understanding through music and storytelling, and after 19 years, Hovedøen Social Club returns to where their Norwegian-Cuban salsa adventure began - on our main stage.
Oslo Mela is held August 14-16 at Rådhusplassen in Oslo. The festival is free and open to everyone.
Freshlyground
- A unifying musical force
After a five-year hiatus, the iconic group Freshlyground returns with new vocalist, Mbali Makhoba, and a musical menu of Afro-jazz, pop, indie rock and soul served with both precision and energy.
Freshlyground's members have backgrounds in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and their musical message of joy and community played a unifying role in South Africa's post-apartheid years. They are known for songs like "Doo Be Doo" and their collaboration with Shaikra on the World Cup song "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), and for their dynamic live performances that feature marabi-inspired piano, catchy Afro-pop melodies and jazz that weave together with flutes and guitars into a rhythmic picture that is always in motion.
In April, they released the album "Take Me Home", the first with Mbali Makhoba as vocalist, and here they show that they are both able to maintain their signature sound and unifying power, while also paving the way for new musical visions and Mbali's soulful voice and insistent stage presence.
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Main Island Social Club
– Norwegian pop singers in a polyrhythmic costume
For almost 20 years, Hovedøen Social Club has merged rhythms from Havana with older Norwegian pop gems, and the result has been surprising and danceable Cuban versions of Norwegian hits that have contributed to both twitching dance feet and extra smile wrinkles.
This somewhat unlikely musical fusion saw the light of day on Melafestivalen in 2007, but it was not until the album "¡Que viva Noruega!" that Hovedøen Social Club really broke through in the summer of 2008. The concert "Classics a la Cuba" in collaboration with KORK, was a great success in Latin America and is regularly played on Cuban TV, where bandleader Sverre Indris Joner enjoys cult status among fellow musicians. The music has also been performed to great acclaim with the Cuban Opera Orchestra, a recording that even won the Cuban Spellemannprisen CubaDisco 2025.
The main island Social CLub definitely doesn't play salsa, and the light-footed fusion is the result of high precision, great style knowledge and countless references to Caribbean music history. So just put on your dancing shoes to experience this gang on the stage where the salsa adventure began.
On stage:
Sverre Indris Joner – piano, band leader
Sergio Gonzalez – vocals
"Tony" Moreaux – timbales
Eduardo Cedeño – bongo
Ruben Pirela – congas
Ole Marius Melhuus – bass
Erik Eilertsen – trumpet
Even Skatrud – trombone
Håvard Fossum – baritone saxophone
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Nordic Griots
– Traditions in a new guise
For more than 700 years, the renowned Cissokho family from Casamance in Senegal has spread love and understanding through music and storytelling. Now the family has also spread to the Nordic countries, where their legacy is continued, adapted to Nordic conditions.
The three griots Ibou, Cheick and Maher Cissokho, reside in Norway, Finland and Sweden respectively, and therefore it is only natural that they bring their family's griot tradition with them into the Nordic surroundings where they live and work. The string instrument kora is central to their communication, and together with their explosive percussion playing and magical storytelling, they continue to spread joy, love, unity and understanding across cultures and borders.
At this concert they will also be joined by Sousou Cissokho on guitar, and you can look forward to a captivating and groundbreaking collaboration that is guaranteed to do wonders for the soul.
Med:
Cheick Cissokho – kora, percussion, vocals
Ibou Cissokho – kora, percussion, vocals
Maher Cissokho – kora, percussion, vocals
Sousou Cissokho – guitar
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Rasha Nahas
– Genre-defying indie music and cultural resistance
With music rooted in both classical guitar playing and Haifa's underground scene, Rasha Nahas has created a distinctive, genre-defying and narrative-focused musical universe that intertwines traditional and popular styles from her homeland of Palestine with elements from indie music.
Rasha Nahas was trained in classical guitar at a young age, in her teens she began writing her own songs and quickly became part of Haifa's vibrant underground scene.
She made her debut album with Desert in 2021 and in 2023, her follow-up album Amrat was released via the British label Cooking Vinyl. It also marked her first attempt at writing lyrics in Arabic. Amrat was recorded at 67 Studio in the occupied Golan Heights with contributions from some of the most respected members of the Palestinian indie scene.
The album also provided her international breakthrough and she has played at WOMEX, Glastonbury and Ultima x By:Larm, among others. She has also received the Bertha Foundation's Artivism Award, cementing her position as an innovative artist and a clear voice for cultural activism and resistance.