More than 100 artists and cultural performers from across the world will converge on Bywater’s Music Box Village on October 3 for the fourth annual Feel the Rhythm of the Drums Festival, a celebration of African and Afro-Caribbean music, dance, heritage and community. Gates open at 3 p.m. at the sculpture-garden venue at 4557 N. Rampart St., with the main stage shows kicking off at 5 p.m.
According to a news release cited by WGNO, the festival will feature performers and artists from Africa, Guyana, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Haiti, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and New Orleans itself. The lineup includes Puerto Rico’s Bombazo Drum and Dance Company, Brazil’s Tamojunto, and Cuba’s Okan y Miel, alongside local groups like the Congo Square Preservation Society, the Majekfingers Drumming Ensemble, Culu & N’kafu, and the youth ensemble Watotos Kumbuka. Haiti’s Culture Ties Drum and Dance Company and Grupo Yurumeina round out a bill designed to showcase the shared rhythmic roots connecting these traditions.
Guyanese-born master percussionist Orlando Primo founded the Majekfingers Drumming School in 2010 to promote West African and diasporic percussion traditions across the region, according to TOCA Percussion. Primo has previously led percussion workshops in New Orleans schools and institutions, including Dillard University, work that has positioned him as a connective figure between the city’s drum culture and the broader diaspora.
A State Grant and a Landmark Venue
The festival recently received institutional backing in the form of a $4,886 2026 Louisiana Project Grant from Arts New Orleans. Arts New Orleans distributes state project grants across Orleans and surrounding parishes, underscoring the event’s standing as more than a one-off pop-up.
Music Box Village itself carries its own origin story. It is a contemporary art sculpture garden in which each house is a musical instrument, giving the drum festival an architecturally interactive backdrop unlike a conventional stage or park setting.
Workshops, Youth Groups and a Cuban Opening
Master percussionist Bill Summers is set to open the day with an interactive drumming and dance workshop centered on Cuban musical traditions, according to New Orleans & Company. The same listing notes that Puerto Rico’s Bombazo Dance Company, led by Milteri Tucker, Haitian dance routines from the local Silhouette Dance Ensemble led by Mama Kai Knight, and Honduran drum and dance by Group Uramana are all part of the 2026 program.
Youth ensembles are included in this year’s program. Groups including the Colu Drum and Dance Company and the Watotos of Kumbuka and Dance Ensemble will perform. Tickets for the October 3 event run $22.23 for adult general admission and $10.93 for children ages 3 to 12.
Rooted in Congo Square, Amplified by Youth Media
The gathering fits into a New Orleans tradition of African diasporic musical expression. Congo Square remains a historic landmark for African diasporic expression, and Hoodline previously reported that its preserved African music and dance are connected to the development of jazz.
The festival’s inclusion of youth groups adds an educational layer to its focus on drumming traditions and the next generation.
