HILARIOUS comedian-cum musician Kapfupi (real name Freddy Manjalima) gave a scintillating performance at the third edition of the Bindura Arts Festival held at Chipadze Stadium on Saturday night.

Kapfupi, who was first on the stage, started his performance with a well-choreographed set that wowed revellers who were slowly trickling into the stadium.

His band, particularly the bassist, had the numerous upcoming artistes that were waiting to perform on the same stage enthralled as he displayed some exquisite guitar skills.

He had the folks of Malawian decent spellbound when he shouted: “Akumuzi muriko here? (My countrymen are you here?), before breaking into a traditional nyau song.

That aside, it was his hilarious comedy lines that won the hearts of many as he threw in one after the other.

His companions — Majisa the midget, Marabha the edentulous fellow, Bonjisi the dark guy and Bra Mafi the gangly — all complemented the effort with their popularity from the Kapfupi comedy series aiding them. His voluptuous wife Mai Nga and her impish ally Regina iced the cake.

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After Kapfupi came in upcoming reggae musician Mr Nice Time who performed riding on various reggae riddims. His use of vernacular and Caribbean patois earned him top marks although he was on stage for just a short time.

Sulumani Chimbetu, who came on stage just before midnight, also gave a livening act which was definitely what everyone had been waiting for.

All of a sudden, all the sound glitches became bygones as the band proved they indeed were on top of their game.

Speechifying almost disturbed the whole festive mood as Zanu PF officials almost took over the event making introductions. The event was marred by poor planning as most of the ground work was done on the day.

At around 8pm, people were still crowded at the entrance and the organisers had to resort to making the event free despite the fact that hundreds had already paid to gain entrance.

Winky D and over 10 Mashonaland Central-based upcoming bands also performed at the event that ended yesterday morning.

The festival’s artistic director Arab Majavala said he was happy with the event, but said they needed more sponsorship.

“It was a good festival, but we need to engage more sponsors to make sure we run smoothly,” Majavala said. “We are in the process of networking with other festival organisers who run similar programs so that we learn from them as well.”