PREPARATIONS for this year’s fourth edition of the Youth Cultural Arts Festival (Yocaf) slated for Masvingo are underway, with registration ending on March 31.
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The festival which is scheduled to take place from July 31 to August 2, will run under the theme I am an Artist at Masvingo Civic Centre. Participants are encouraged to produce their work in line with this theme.
The festival’s artistic director Leeroy Gono said the theme I am an Artist, parleys that it is high time the artists are given due recognition and treatment.
“An artist is a political being, constantly aware of the heart breaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping him completely in their image hence their works must be appreciated,” Gono said.
Gono said the fête has become one of the biggest youth festivals in the country and it has started spreading its wings to the region.
“There has been keen interest shown by different groups who want to participate at this cultural fête, from countries like Zambia, South Africa, Malawi Botswana and Namibia,” Gono said.
He said the festival is dedicated to help young people find and develop their artistic talent through arts. “This festival is aimed at enhancing the development of local communities through objective use of the Arts and Culture by nurturing professionalism in the youth for better economic growth and social healing,” he said.
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“We are encouraging arts administrators, the new Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture and schools that they have a fundamental obligation to provide the energy that will ignite the mind, spark the aspirations and illuminate the total being to the festival.”
According to Gono, local acts are also on the cards with top musicians billed to perform at event.
Various workshops will also be running throughout the festival. Since its launch, the festival has created an opportunity for young people to develop skills and to utilise those skills to contribute to their communities that in turn, increase their ability to succeed.
