National Geographic Traveller (UK)
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Highlights from the website
In our May issue, we looked at the Warm Heart of Africa. Inspired? Check out our guide to the best art and music festivals across the country on the website now
When Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone reached Africa’s third-largest lake in 1859, he was greeted by the stunning pre-dawn spectacle of fishermen canoeing by lamplight. It inspired him to coin its nickname, the Lake of Stars. Years later, in 2004, Livingstone’s epithet and Lake Malawi’s dazzling beaches were employed by a British promoter to launch a music festival that quickly developed mythical status worldwide.
The success of Lake of Stars sparked festival fever in Malawi and, before the end of the decade, the diminutive nation had packed the reliably clement period between late
September and early November with events, creating new spaces to showcase the country’s dynamism and rising stars to the rest of the world. These five festivals stand out for their curated line-ups, striking environments, cheap tickets and friendly crowds — and offer a vibrant complement to a trip spent touring colonial tea estates in the highlands, spotting big cats in newly rewilded national parks or idling away days by the lake.