TRUE LOVE hit-maker Busi Ncube is set to headline the official opening of the Victoria Falls Cultural Festival pencilled for August to be hosted by the Zimbabwe Music Association (ZMA).
NONHLANHLA SIBANDA
OWN CORRESPONDENT
The festival would run under the theme “A Cultural Confluence: The world as one” and is slated for August 6-11 in the resort town.
The opening event is set for Elephant Hills Resort Hotel which hosted the main event of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly in 2013.
Mish Nyakudarika, the secretary-general of ZMA told Southern Eye Lifestyle that the festival is a legacy of the 20th UNWTO assembly held in the resort town last year. The Falls is strategically positioned as Africa’s foremost cultural tourism exposition.
“We are hoping to articulate clearly the needs and aspirations of the tourism and heritage sectors and to provide clearly spelt out objectives for a viable and sustainable cultural tourism sector,” she said.
“We particularly chose Busi Ncube to open the prestigious event because she is a cultural ambassador. This is a way of celebrating her as the most prominent post-independence female artiste.
“Our vision is to inspire and unite all people of Zimbabwe and beyond through the arts, open dialogue and strategic intercultural initiatives and our mission is to go beyond the aesthetic thereby enabling our visitors both domestic and international, to experience the soul of Zimbabwe, to go beneath the surface and be changed in some way,” Nyakudarika said.
“We want to reposition Victoria Falls as the heritage and cultural tourism hub of Zimbabwe and beyond our borders.”
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In an exclusive interview with Southern Eye Lifestyle, Ncube currently in Norway, said she would be honoured to open the Victoria Falls Festival in August, saying she was in touch with the festival organisers.
She added that she is presently working with schools and is in the studio working on her next album.
“I will be having gigs for summer from May 6th up till September including the Victoria Falls Festival if all goes well. Presently I and other Zimbabweans and Norwegians who love Zimbabwe, are at the final stage of planning Oslo Zimfest. We are not yet through with the festival official programme — it will be coming out in a few days,” she said.
The Victoria Falls Carnival and the Harare International Festival of the Arts have been noted by a CNN list as two of the top seven must-see festivals in Africa.
Time lines: August 6 Opening night, Busi Ncube
August 7 Ladies of Jazz Green Art Day
August 8 International Heritage Carnival Parade Zimbabwe/Zambia Music Gala
August 9 Cultural Tourism Gala See Zimbabwe concert August 10 Closing night, Zimbabwe/Zambia culture weekend International jazz festivals
Supporting exposition
- Food fair
- Arts and craft fair
- Fashion fair,
- Culture and heritage tourism fair.
