From AfroBanana to ABR: the festival that refuses to sit still

If you are a certain age and live in Cyprus, you will have probably partied at an AfroBanana Festival. Music stages in the forest, village installations and community art happenings are synonymous with the annual summer festival. Yet now, the festival is transitioning into a new phase and name. This summer, Cyprus welcomes the first Alternative Brains Rule (ABR) Festival, bringing the same curious, creative spirit to the heart of Nicosia.

This is not the end of the road for AfroBanana fans, but rather a new beginning. In the words of the ABR team, “We’re not trying to shake off the festival’s identity – we’re building on it. AfroBanana laid the foundation. Alternative Brains Rule Festival is the next step. Many of the same people, values and spirit remain – but the frame is bigger now, and the vision is bolder.”

New experimental sounds, site-specific art by local artists, electro events in theatres and an awards ceremony await this first edition. The events will breathe new life into Nicosia’s municipal gardens and theatre from June 19 to 22.

Though the AfroBanana days as we knew them may no longer be, and they did face several challenges in recent years as they shifted from site to site, the Alternative Brains Rule (ABR) brand is nothing new. It is a name the festival team has carried as an organisation for over a decade whilst designing creative experiences.

“Alternative Brains Rule is about harnessing bold ideas and artistic expression,” explains the team. “We want to provide a sanctuary where artists, collectives and changemakers can spark dialogue and imagine better futures.”

This is what the new festival edition will bring – an opportunity to rethink urban space and the ways we experience the city (or not) by placing culture and the arts at the heart of it. Sounds like the restless AfroBanana spirit we are used to.

“We’ve always been more than a music festival – and this evolution reflects that,”adds the team. “The very idea of festivals, involving more than just a stage in the middle of nowhere, was new when we started in 2011. And the festival has always moved around, from Yialia in Paphos, all the way to Athens. Now it feels like we need to turn our attention back in, shifting to the heart of the city.“

For the first ABR festival, Nicosia’s municipal gardens and theatre will be more than just a backdrop, as the organisers explain. “They carry history, symbolism and potential. We’re here to reimagine and revitalise the city — to bring new energy to its public spaces and celebrate summer as something shared, lived and local.“

The venues also act as a reminder that inspiration and connection are found within the city too, but most importantly, that green spaces (which are largely neglected in Cyprus) “can become vital cultural sanctuaries”.

The festival’s green actions include partnerships with Cyprus Public Transport, ParkVol and AHDR to encourage people to rethink mobility: walk, cycle or hop on a bus.

So, what is coming up at the festival this June? All around the gardens, installations will create an artistic festival experience. The team highlights a glasswork series by Kyriaki Costa using fragments from the nearby Pedieos river and a Peacock Hand Juicer by Visual Voices.

Immersive walks on a new bridge connecting the two venues created by Studio [lamarina] and Ferhat Yeşilada, and OPU Collective’s bike buses leading to the festival. Other activities include a forest school, street food by Young Chefs of the Year Antriana Efstratiou and Marios Karagiorgis, a Sousami Food Club pop-up, and a Sunday long table feast by To Patrikon.

A song-building session from Songbirds, the island’s intercommunal children’s choir, is also happening, but one of the festival highlights will be an electronic music event called 1984-NOW taking place within the municipal theatre.

“This is a genre that’s long been left out of formal cultural spaces. It’s a deliberate act of recognition and reinvention and this is why we are opening Alternative Brains Rule Festival 2025 with an awards ceremony honouring and celebrating local pioneers of this scene.”

1984-NOW is a retrospective on Cyprus’ electronic music history, tracing its evolution across showcases with local artists ABR, Sousami, Alex Tomb, Barking Cats Radio and Honest Electronics.

Luzmira Zerpa with Drymbago

Back at the gardens, a series of open-air performances will celebrate some of the best musicians to have stepped on the AfroBanana stage. Returning to Cyprus is BCUC – one of the most talked-about live acts, blending indigenous funk, hip hop and punk, as well as Luzmira Zerpa, who first appeared on the ABR stage in 2014 with Family Atlantica. Now she will present a fresh collaboration with 10-piece rhythm powerhouse Drymbago. Local names such as Nama Dama will also perform alongside other artists who are new to Cyprus’ music scene.

Much of the festival, like the food court and all of the Sunday activities, will be open and free for the public – a chance for the community to gather. Following its nomadic nature, festival events extend beyond Nicosia’s four days with Jack on Tour events happening at Mr Tippler bar in Paphos and Blurry Lights bar in Nicosia.

“This next step feels natural,” concludes the team, “a shift in scale, vision and identity that allows us to better reflect the work we’re doing and the direction we’re heading.“ Miss this edition and you’ll have to wait until 2027 — the festival is now bi-annual.

Nonetheless, “the spirit remains the same: collective, curious, and just a little unruly.”

Alternative Brains Rule Festival

AfroBanana evolves into a new festival with community events, live music, art installations, street food and more. June 19-22. Nicosia Municipal Gardens and Nicosia Municipal Theatre. www.abrfest.com.  www.more.com