Zimbabwe Music Festival on

THE Zimbabwe Music Festival is one of the festivals that celebrate and explore the Zimbabwean culture and music every year and this year’s event will be held at Western Oregon University, Monmouth in the United States of America from 11 to 14 August.

The festival this year will run under the theme “Sing-Dance-Play! Tambai Tambai! Dlala-Dlala!” The four-day festival will include concerts, workshops, community conversations as well as the African Market place.

“Come visit the 2016 market place and explore the wonderful assortment of African art, clothing, crafts, musical instruments . . . the Market place also provides an opportunity to learn about and support non-profit organisations that are working with people of Zimbabwe and South Africa,” read the organisers’ website.

The festival is attended by experts from around the world to teach and perform. This year there will be Zimbabweans joining the festival to teach for the first time, including a group called Mbira Renaissance and a marimba specialist Simba Kamuriwo.

“Traveling from abroad to be with us are popular mbira genius and teacher Musekiwa Chingodza (coming from Zimbabwe); Kwanongoma graduate and marimba expert Michael Sibanda (based in South Africa); and the multi-talented vocalist and dancer Lucky Moyo,” they said.

The festival has been running for 25 years and boasts of about 500 people who register for workshops and many more enjoy concerts.

The mission of the Zimbabwean Music Festival is to provide a venue for the increasingly international community of students, teachers, and performers of Zimbabwean music to come together and share. It also aims at fostering the growth of that community by reaching out to an even wider audience through educational initiatives.

The vision has however, expanded from its initial emphasis on marimba and the inspiring musical legacy of Dumi Maraire to encompass the diverse aspects of Zimbabwean performing arts and a wider perspective on culture and education.