Comedian Ntando Moyo has blasted the Bulawayo Arts Festival and its organisers — City of Bulawayo for snubbing comedy in its festival programming.
The festival, which coincides with the celebration of the Bulawayo Day, kicked off yesterday with comedy not part of the events.
"We initially thought it was a provisional programme and that comedians would get their own slots," said Moyo.
"It's a sad development for satire and comedy, and a wrong precedent set by the national awards- giving board Nama. Their decision to exclude comedy from the awards, and everyone else's subsequent actions, are disappointing.
“Comedians in Bulawayo are the most booked and trending performers, appearing in more adverts than musicians.
“Right now, no musician is pulling the numbers that comedian Sipho Mercent Nyathi is.”
Moyo insinuates a cold war between comedians and the festival organisers due to unpaid performance fees, compounded by the fact that the comedy genre already has its own festival in the city. Moyo is among the artists who haven't received their full performance fees from the same festival three years ago.
"Perhaps the Bulawayo Arts Festival is upset that comedy has its own festival (Kwantuthu comedy festival) and that some comedians complained about not being paid for the previous Bulawayo Arts Festival participation," he said.
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"We are celebrating Bulawayo Day and its cultural heritage. Even during the time of King Lobengula, there were people who would act and tell jokes to make the king laugh. If we call ourselves the city of Kings and Queens, it doesn't make sense to exclude comedy.
"I'm not just advocating for comedians from my stable (Umahlekisa) to be booked. We want fair treatment for all genres. Either give us our own show to curate or hire us as masters of ceremonies."
