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Let Them Festival nurtures young talent

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THE second Let Them Festival which was recently held at Allan Wilson School saw various artistes engaging students in a move to nurture young talent.

THE second Let Them Festival which was recently held at Allan Wilson School saw various artistes engaging students in a move to nurture young talent.

REPORT BY Entertainment Reporter

The festival which had its first music and dance show at the weekend saw musicians such as Ammara Brown, Thomas Brickhill, Alexio Kawara, Netsayi, Junior Bantan, Tariro Negitare and DJ Smoove working with students from different schools.

Brown performed with National Education College, Jnr Bantan with Ellis Robins while Brickhill of Chikwata 263 was the best the day had on offer staging a magnificent showcase with mentally challenged students from Vimbainashe Learning Institute.

“As a nation we have worked very hard giving career guidance along the formal side of employment while ignoring the arts so as Let Them Trust we wanted our established artistes mentoring these kids, teaching them about their line of work and developing talent,” said the event organiser Chido Musasiwa.

She said the festival was also aimed at preserving local culture and that they wanted established artistes to embark on mentoring students.

Musasiwa said this was a way of trying to acculturate children into liking and appreciating local heritage.

During the event, popular disc jockey DJ Smoove (real name Deon Lewis) also held a workshop teaching aspiring DJs how his world works.

“People have a wrong perception on how DJs work so I am trying to make these kids know how my world works, what makes a good or bad DJ, how to cut it on the international scene and the technological side of it,” he said.

Meanwhile, other artistes like Hope Masike, Sniper Storm and XQ who were meant to perform at the festival did not show up at the festival and Musasiwa defended their absence saying that they had various other commitments of which they only notified after the posters had been printed.

“Hope Masike and Sniper had initially confirmed to perform but did not manage as they were both out of the country and Ex-Q who was supposed to perform with Churchill did not perform because the school pulled out as they had other commitments,” she said.

Let Them Festival is an annual event which started last year with only theatrical performances but has this year grown to accommodate music and dance.