Sébastien Lagrave has a degree in Philosophy, and worked as an opera artist for ten years, notably with Olivier Py and Emilie Valentin. He then went on to complete a specialized Master's degree in "Management of Cultural Enterprises" at ESC Dijon, before taking over the management of the Centre Culturel Jean Houdremont in La Courneuve. It was on this occasion that he met Philippe Conrath, who invited him to take over the management of the Africolor association in 2012.
Since then, he has developed international cooperation projects combining culture and development around the festival, in Mali, Comoros, Tanzania and Tunisia. President of the Zone Franche network between 2016 and 2018, expert for the DRAC Ile de France, the CNM and the French Ministry of Culture, he took part in the development of new national programs for world music. In 2018, he was made a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by Madame Françoise Nyssen, Minister of Culture.