ORGANISERS of the two-day cultural festival to be held from October 24 to 25 at Muchima Village in Mudzi district in Mashonaland East Province received a major boost from the Culture Fund in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to Zimbabwe.
WINSTONE ANTONIO OWN CORRESPONDENT
The Culture Fund and the Delegation of the European Union to Zimbabwe have extended financial assistance for the refurbishment of the cultural village site and the hosting of the festival.
Speaking to NewsDay, the festival founder Pendeke Chiunye expressed gratitude to the two organisations for the support rendered.
“We are happy that the Culture Fund and the Delegation of the European Union to Zimbabwe have extended support towards the festival.
Chiunye said preparations for the festival were at an advanced stage.
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“This year’s edition promises to be bigger and better as compared to last year’s which was poorly attended. We are urging people to come in their numbers for the festival and witness the lost and forgotten Zimbabwean traditional lifestyle,” Chiunye said.
“Apart from the display of ancient artefacts, the festival will feature various cultural activities including traditional dance performances, poetry, storytelling and traditional games such as nhodo and tsoro.”
Chiunye said at the festival, women will demonstrate several activities which form the daily cultural household chores such as kutswa nekukuya (grinding and pounding).
“Traditional foods will be traditionally prepared and then traditionally served with bedding and accommodation also provided in a traditional manner,” he said.
The cultural and historical village is famous for its preservation and display of traditional architecture, arts and customs offering fascinating samples of historical battlefields, homesteads and a hunting area.
Chiunye said people living in the communities surrounding the centre preserve culture through collecting and producing traditional artefacts (wooden, pottery and basketry).
“The homestead showcases day-to-day lives of people living in a rural homestead with traditional ceremonies and rituals that used to be conducted long ago by our ancestors in the event of drought, illness, death and burials are still being conducted at the centre,” Chiunye said.