Belly Dancing, Live Music and More at the Belt & Road Food Fest

This weekend (Sep 16-17) we’ve got another fun-filled weekend for you with our Belt & Road Food Fest! With a whole range of entertainment including belly dancing, Afro-dance sessions, DJs, live music and over 200 dishes and drinks to try it’s a weekend that you don’t want to miss!

We also have some other exciting news -- early bird tickets now come with an extra gift! Yes, if purchase an early bird ticket you'll also receive a bottle of Brutal Fruit Spritzer! So what are you waiting for, scan the QR code below to get your ticket now!

Stage

Afro-Dance Session (Sat & Sun, 4-5pm)

Roots Café & Culture has prepared another awesome Afro-Dance Session for the Belt and Road Food Fest, this time they’ve got not one but two sessions lined up! Saturday will see the DANCEMASTER session led by Tanaka, who you may recognize from the CBD Craft Beer Fest. A nimble dance guru, Tanaka will guide and show you some cool, very easy-to-learn moves. DANCEMASTER is for those who know how to party. You will definitely dominate the dance floor after this!

On Sunday, it will be D'Jack’s turn to lead you in a JINDAFIT session – a full a full-body Afro-beats dance workout based on African moves and rhythms. It is a new, simple, and uniquely fun workout, suitable for all fitness levels and all ages. The up-tempo African rhythms will let you enjoy the moment and let go of any worries.

AFRO-GENTS (Sat & Sun, 5-6pm)

AFRO-GENTS are a band of diverse style, talent and cultural background that will bring an Afro-fusion vibe to the stage. AFRO-GENTS cover a multitude of musical genres including Jazz, R&B, Neo soul, Blues, Reggae and Afro-beats with the latter being its main genre. Afro-fusion is a genre that merges other styles of music such as R&B, reggae and hip-hop with traditional Afro-beats. 

Belly Dancing (Sat & Sun, 3-4pm)

Bringing some belly dancing fun to the stage is Candy, a world champion of Ahlan Wa Sahlan – the biggest Egyptian dance festival in the world. She's got some great moves and you can expect a super fun-filled performance at the fest. 

EMASalsa (Sat & Sun, 6-7pm)

Now a veteran of food and drink festivals in Beijing, you’ll have most recently seen EMASalsa at last weekend’s CHEERS Summer Fest. Her amazing moves are always guaranteed to get you up and dancing – she even got the crowd out dancing in the rain last Saturday! Led by Teacher Ema, an ambassador of Latin American cultural communication, she has been promoting Latin American culture and music through dance for 19 years. She has worked with many Latin American embassies here in China and has taught thousands of students over the years.

DJ Ennoe Alpha (Sat, 7-8.30pm)

Finishing off Saturday's festivities we have none other than DJ Ennoe Alpha who joined the entertainment scene in 2018. He taught himself how to blend in mixed tracks from listening to superstar DJs and car radio stations in numerous DJ mixes, and has dominated the popular Afrobeat hip-hop and reggae environment ever since. He blends a mix of tracks from genres such as reggae, reggae dub step, Afrobeat, deep house and funky house. He’s played at numerous events and venues in Beijing including Beijinger festivals, the British Ball, Mango Aurora, DADA BBB, Modernista and many more. 

DJ Arquitect (Sun, 7-8.30pm)

Closing out the Belt and Road Food Fest is another familiar face at the Beijinger’s foodie festivals, DJ Dairon Cardona, aka DJ Arquitect. One of Beijing’s most popular Latin music DJs, Latin music may be his main style, but he also loves Afro, Caribbean and house music. His high-energy performances, great charisma and ability to merge different music styles will be sure to get you up and dancing. He’s been a resident DJ at a number of impressive venues in Beijing such as the Nuo Hotel, Intercontinental Hotel and Terrazza Martini’s Nali Patio rooftop. 

DJ Dara (Sat, 11am-1pm)

DJ Dara has had a love of music since childhood which lead her to explore the path of DJing and singing. She’s played at the record store FruityShop and for the bass label Deepdown along with other events such as the opening of the Sound Art Museum etc. Her DJ style ranges from rhythmic music such as funk, soul, hip-hop, and reggae to electronic music such as house, brokenbeat and drum & bass, exploring possibilities with root music as the main melody.

DJ Darlin (Sun, 1-3pm)

DJ Darlin is a professional musician, keyboardist and independent producer. He started learning classical music as a child and has mastered playing a range of different keyboard instruments. His years of musical experience have helped him grow a unique understanding of mixing and he’s become an expert at combining techno with other root music. He plays a broad range of genres including techno, house, trance, disco and more.

DJ Hot Cue (Sat, 1-3pm)

DJ Hotcue is a beat-maker, producer and international DJ. He pursues diversified music styles and has a very original taste in music.  Since his childhood, he was fond of collecting records and spreading music culture and has a deep understanding of music for all ages and genres. With over six years of experience behind the decks, DJ Hotcue has established himself as a true master of the craft. His sets are packed with energy and creativity, featuring a mix of classic and contemporary hip-hop tracks that always get the crowd moving.

DJ LUDO V (Sun, 11am-1pm)

Born and bred in Naples where he was heavily influenced by the local vibrant scene, Ludo V started DJing in 1995 after being influenced by the then growing jungle and drum & bass movement. After moving to China in the early ‘00s he has been a part of Beijing’s nightclub scene from its very early years. Renowned for his omnivorous musical tastes and his ever-growing record collection, Ludo V’s DJ sets have become synonymous with refined taste, eclecticism and GROOVE, and he’s been playing at all the major spots of the capital for almost two decades now.

You can check out the poster below for the full stage schedule so that you don’t miss a thing!

Vendor Entertainment

Some of the vendors at the festival will also be doing special activities with prizes up for grabs, so let’s take a look at those!

B-13

Along with bringing an array of barbecue to the festival, the staff at B-13 will be dressing up as different characters from ancient Chinese myths and will interact with customers. 

Gloria X Gao Gloria×高

Gloria X Gao will be putting your taste buds to the test with their activity centered around tasting their Thai and Southeast Asian dishes. After you’ve bought one of their dishes you’ll be asked if you can name the unexpected ingredient in the dish, if you guess correctly you’ll receive a 15 percent discount on your next purchase and be given some free stickers!

Hi-Town Bistro 海塘无国界餐吧

Hi-Town Bistro has created a Silk Road themed name guessing game for the festival which pairs perfectly with their menu of dishes from various Belt and Road countries. Three players are needed and each picks out the name of a famous person related to the Silk Road such as as Marco Polo, as Zhang Qian, Ban Chao etc. The players will then have to ask each other questions to try to figure out the names and the first player to guess all three will win a prize.

IN&OUT Yunnan Food 一坐一忘云南菜

IN&OUT will be giving out a variety of vouchers, merch and other gifts at the fest but there is a limited number so you’ll need to get there early if you want one!

Nord Grill & Bar 诺德

Western eatery Nord will have a table shuffleboard game where if you purchase a meal priced RMB 30 or more you get a free go. If you manage to get your puck into the winning area then you get a prize!

PANDABREW•RIVER MELODY MOUNTAIN SCENERY 熊猫精酿•湘声岳色

At PANDABREW’s stall, they’ll be doing a ring toss game, it’s RMB 10 to play and they have a whole range of PANDABREW merch up for grabs for winners.

Rak Thai•Thai Home Cuisine 爱泰风•泰式家常菜

Rak Thai will be giving out some of their signature Thai Shrimp Crackers for free at the fest, simply scan their QR code to get yourself the free snack!

Roots Café & Culture

Roots Café & Culture (RC&C) will be offering an array of fun activities from their Lifestyle Hub. Among them are SIP & PAINT, crafting, henna, party games and a photo studio for insta-worthy pics! 

TongXinJu 同心居饭庄

Bringing classic Beijing dishes to the fest, TongXinJu will have some food tasting activities at their stall, plus you can interact with their donkey mascot. 

YE BREWING 野鹅微醺

YE BREWING has a special discount where you get RMB 10 off your purchase if you buy one of their Donkey Meat Burritos and post a picture of it on social media.

YIN’S LOUNGE 胤橡派

YIN’S LOUNGE will have a ton of fun, interactive props for you to take photos with. They’ll also have a lucky draw each day where anyone who buys something from YIN’S LOUNGE during the festival will be entered into their WeChat group and have the chance to win a voucher for an afternoon tea for two worth RMB 318. The lucky draw will take place at 10pm on Saturday and Sunday. 

The Belt & Road Food Fest is happening at Langyuan Station Sep 16-17, 11am-8.30pm. Early bird tickets are RMB 19.9 for one person or RMB 29.9 for two people, you can purchase tickets by scanning the QR code in the poster above. 

READ: Try Over 200 Dishes and Drinks at the Belt and Road Food Fest

Images: courtesy of the vendors, the Beijingers