NQOZA Entertainment will host the first ever Uhuru Festival at the City Hall car park in Bulawayo that will be graced by top South African acts Professor and Dr Malinga on April 28 to shutdown this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
BY SHARON SIBINDI
The festival will see a raft of activities including a dance battle in which the winner will dance away with $300, a DJs battle where the winner will scoop $500 and local artistes sharing the stage with international acts.
Nqoza Entertainment director, Nqobizitha Ncube, told Southern Eye Life & Style that they wanted to bring together artistes and give them exposure, while bringing back the “vibe” in Bulawayo.
“We want to bring together our Zimbabwean artistes and expose new upcoming artistes, dance groups and DJs to understand their roles as celebrities. We are trying to bring back the vibe in Bulawayo and we want the upcoming artistes to get a chance to share the stage with international artistes we are bringing on the day,” he said.
“We want our artistes to get links and collaborations from the top artistes we are bringing — Professor, Dr Malinga, Stiff and Top Virus. Since our music in Zimbabwe is down in terms of marketing and other things, we hope this will be the time to bring back the vibe and our artistes use the opportunity well.”
He said his wish was for the local artistes to share ideas on how to break even in the music industry.
“This event is not about sharing the stage only but also get a chance to share ideas as well with international artistes. We have artistes that are ready to do collaborations with Zimbabwean artistes so they will come earlier. We are looking forward for those upcoming artistes who are in Zimbabwe who want to be part of Uhuru Festival.”
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He said the fiesta will become an annual feature on Bulawayo’s entertainment calendar with a long-term view to spread their wings to Hwange and Victoria, among other towns.
Ncube said the South African artistes such as Top Virus had promised to melt Bulawayo Kwaito lovers and Gqom fans with scintillating performances.
Bongani Mutsawu of Rockers Island, whose is part of the sound and lighting team, said more than 50 DJs — with the majority drawn from Bulawayo — have registered for the battle.
“Everyone is welcome to enter The Battle of DJs on the day. So far, most of the DJs who have registered are from Bulawayo and we have a few from Harare. The DJs will get specific playing time and if they do not make it on time, the opponent automatically wins,” he said.
“We will have a mini league were DJs will be grouped into various sets where they will battle and the winners will then battle in the quarter, semi-finals and the finals.” The event will feature, Tytan Ex-Q, Nceku, Cal_Vin, Madlela, DJ Mzoe, Ladee, Zhezhingtons and Guspy Warrior
