Detroit’s Concert of Colors Celebrates 35 Years with Global Lineup, Tribute to Founder Ismael Ahmed, and Landmark Smithsonian Collaboration

Detroit — The lineup is official for the internationally celebrated Concert of Colors Detroit July 15–19, 2026 – bringing together acclaimed artists from around the globe  for the nation’s longest-running, largest free world music festival in Midtown. This year’s summer festival carries extraordinary significance as it celebrates its 35th year, Detroit celebrates its 325th birthday, the U.S. 250th and honors the life, vision, and legacy of founder Ismael Ahmed, who passed away earlier this year. 

Ahmad Chebbani has been named  Executive Director and Njia Kai as Festival Director.

The Concert of Colors  is held at multiple locations in Midtown with Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) serving as the “headquarters” on multiple days, with  multiple indoor and outdoor stages, food trucks and vendors on  the DIA  lawn. Free festival performances and events are hosted at  partner sites, including Michigan Science Center, Detroit Historical Museum outdoor stage, the Sosnick Outdoor Courtyard at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra;the Scarab Club behind the DIA, Spot Lite Detroit; Third Man Records and MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art).

The 2026 festival will feature internationally renowned artist Sheila E.; Grammy-winning producer, Blue Note Records President, and Detroit music icon Don Was and the Detroit All Star Revue Salute to “The Scene”; reggae pioneers Steel Pulse, psychedelic world music favorites Dengue Fever; and acclaimed Detroit guitarist and composer Sean Blackman with In Transit, alongside dozens of artists representing musical traditions from around the globe. Superstar Martha Redbone, whose music combines Indigenous American, R&B/Soul and Appalachian sounds, will also perform, along with one of the most celebrated, influential string quarters over the last 50 years, Kronos Quartet.

Adding to this year’s historic significance, Concert of Colors is a collaborator on Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals, Led by the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, part of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, is to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary. Concert of Colors is among approximately 40 festivals from across the country, ranging from one-day events to weeklong gatherings, that are part of this series of co-curated programs and exchanges showcasing the nation’s cultural landscape and highlighting festivals as spaces for civic engagement and cultural exchange.   During the festival on the grounds of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the public will have the opportunity to record their stories as part of “We Hold These Truths.” the Smithsonian’s national storytelling and documentation initiative.  The 5-10 minute recorded interviews  will be permanently housed at the Smithsonian Ralph Rinzler Archives and Collections and made available through the Concert of Colors.

One of the festival’s signature events, the Don Was Detroit All Star Revue, will present “A Salute to The Scene,” honoring the groundbreaking late-1970s to mid-1980s WGPR-TV dance television program The Scene, which helped define a generation of Detroit music culture. 

With special additional guest host Ann Delisi and Nat Morris, featured  artists this year are Steffanie Christi’an, Carol Hall, Herschel Boone, Mike Ellison, Isis, Sir Harry Bowens, Donald Ray Mitchell, Felix Morris from Felix and Jarvis, Phayme and Carson Mac. The Don Was Detroit All Star Revue house band features Dave McMurray, Luis Resto, Jeff Canady, Wayne Gerard, Mahindi Masai, Professor Vincent Chandler, John Douglas, Brian Roscoe.

“This is the first year that the Concert of Colors will take place without the physical presence of our old friend, Ismael Ahmed,” Was said. “He was a great Detroiter and a great American, whose entire life was devoted to bringing people together in the name of liberty and justice for all. As an activist, cultural curator and friend, he is irreplaceable, but his spirit continues to loom large over the festival.

“We promised Ish that the Detroit AllStar Revue would give him a send-off in  high style and I know he’d dig what we’ve got planned,” Was continued .”Nat Morris, the former WGPR DJ who hosted the show, will co-MC this year’s Revue with WDET’s Ann Delisi. What “The Scene” may have lacked in sophisticated production techniques, it more than made up for with inspired playlists and great dancing. Morris, along with The Electrifying Mojo, totally changed the culture in Detroit and, in doing so, impacted music globally. We’re gonna have a blast playing all of those great songs. I think it’ll be the best Detroit All Star Revue ever.”