Chimanimani Arts Festival has been slotted for the Heroes’ holiday (August 10-12) this year.
Organisers and consultants for the event, Global Arts Trust and Chido Advertising respectively, on Wednesday evening hosted a presentation at Alliance Française outlining anticipated highlights of the annual extravaganza.
The festival will showcase a variety of artistic genres from music, dance (traditional and modern), poetry and storytelling to film, theatre, arts/crafts and acrobatics. The theme for this 12th edition is “One Love, One Nation — Peace.” Chido Musasiwa-Gutu, one of the organisers, said as usual punters could expect three days of fun –filled, explosive entertainment in all the festival venues, from the main stage on the Village Green to the Blue Moon stage, venue for a wide range of activities targeted at the younger festival-goers.
Headline musical acts for this year include Chiwoniso and Vybz Culture, Nicholas Zakaria and Khiama Boys, Leonard Zhakata and Zimbabwe All-Stars, Dino Mudondo, Alexio Kwara, Juicer Mupostori and Chimanimani homeboys Ngangu Band and Radiation Band, amongst others.
Chimanimani Arts Festival is the country’s biggest free-entry festival, with an attendance of 8 000-10 000 at the climax of each year’s event. For residents of Chimanimani and Manicaland Province, the festival is a much-appreciated, income-generating opportunity and they take advantage of the huge crowds which attend to vend their wares.
This year also sees the introduction of a Youth Zone which will cater for young children who will be entertained by storytelling, face painting, clowns and jumping castles.
The festival in its current form began in 1998 and has grown in stature over the years. Musical greats such as Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mtukudzi, Chiwoniso, Sulumani Chimbetu, the late Andy Brown, Busi Ncube, Willom Tight, Dino Mudondo, Junior Bantan, Hotter Fire, the late Adam Chisvo, among others.
International acts such as Demachena from Spain and have also featured there.
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More recently, artists such as Hope Masike, Chikwata 263, Edith weUtonga, John Pfumojena, Juicer Mupostori and Afriq have been showcased in Chimanimani, which has also boasted of local talent in Senior Musareketa, Ngangu Band, and the antics of Ingo the Clown, an internationally-renowned artiste.
