Hurungwe Arts Festival flops
POOR attendance marred the sixth edition of the Hurungwe Arts Festival (HAF) held in Karoi, Mashonaland West Province, over the weekend, with the two-day event characterised by cancellation of most of the lined-up activities. The festival, which drew artistes from various genres, left some of the performing artistes disgruntled after they failed to take to the stage.
According to the organisers, the annual event was supposed to kick off with theatre, drama, visual arts and art exhibitions, but all the activities were cancelled, reducing the festival to a musical event. Faced with all the challenges that characterised the twoday event, Hurungwe Arts Festival director Joel Zilala remained optimistic that the next edition will be bigger and better.
“Our aim is to bring together artistes so that they can showcase and share ideas,” said Zilala.“We have been faced with financial constraints and we hope that the Government and corporate world will come and assist us. We wish to see the event grow bigger to the extent of attracting regional artistes.”
After failing to attract huge crowds for the events that had been lined up at Chikangwe Hall on Friday morning, the festival was then taken to Twin Rivers Hotel where different music outfits and dance groups were supposed to perform.
It proved to be another big blow for the organisers after they were also forced to abandon all the activities after failing to attract people to the planned $5 performances at the venue.
As if it was not enough, organisers of the festival were caught napping after they failed to communicate their decision to abandon the performances to artistes, who were kept waiting from afternoon until 8pm when they finally announced their plans.
Female traditional music singers Miranda and Eunice Kapandura and contemporary musician Russell Tawanda and other dance groups were set to perform at the venue. Poor attendance to the festival venues also characterised the second day of the festival, which also saw organisers abandoning all the morning activities, including an artistes’ workshop.
Events of the day started around midday after the organisers were forced to abandon the hall and opted for an open space at Chikangwe Tavern. A makeshift stage of a haulage truck trailer was placed at an open space outside the beerhall.
It appeared they had found the solution for the poor attendance after changing the venue, when Nyau dancers attracted the attention of passers-by and Chikangwe township residents who stay close to the beerhall. Artistes who had failed to take to the stage on the first day, performed first.
Various dance groups also entertained a handful of people, who were gathered at Chikangwe beerhall.
However, the performances did not last long as darkness forced entertainers to abandon the stage and go inside the beerhall.
It was there that various musicians took to the stage with Obert Chari of the“Mebo” fame taking centre stage. Various music outfits that included Karoi-based Dragon Crew, Jah Prayzah copycat Nicolai Dzomba and his Dendamaro Crew, Shallom Stars and Mobbystar Dance Group also performed.