THE third edition of the Beitbridge International Festival of the Arts (Bifa) ended on a high note on Saturday night when the border town reverberated to various tunes, as more than three groups provided entertainment on the closing night.
BY LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI
The festival started on a low note last Thursday morning, with six primary schools taking part in the event.
Wadada Arts and Iyasa warmed the stage ahead of veteran Zim dancehall artiste Winky D.
The Ninja president, as he is affectionately known, hailed the people of Beitbridge for supporting local artistes, as it helps to grow art in the country.
The festival also gave secondary schools an opportunity to be part of competitions and theatre training, which were conducted by veteran stage performer, Taurai Sibanda.
Sibanda said there is a lot of untapped talent in the border town, adding that it is high time students from the area were incorporated in big productions.
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“Through the festival, we learnt a lot, especially in terms of talent that has not been tapped. Beitbridge is a multilingual town and if we are to invest in these schools properly we would come up with a block buster of actors who will screen productions which are representative country wide as far as language is concerned,” he said.
Babongile Sikhonjwa, Ayanda and Siyaya spiced the festival with variety.
The curtain came down on Saturday night with Peter Moyo sharing the stage with Clement Magwaza.
The two artistes put up an exhilarating performances that left the crowd spellbound.
The festival director, Nkululeklo Nkala said they are happy they managed to draw a huge crowd.
“We have always said the purpose of this festival is to bring big arts into the small city. People have always associated big artistes with big festival. However with Bifa we are bringing big artistes to this small city,” he said.
