6 000 attend Victoria Falls’ SEAL and Mapopoma Festival

THE 5th edition of SEAL and Mapopoma Festival recently held in Victoria Falls was a big success with over 6 000 participants attending the three-day event according to organisers.

The fun-filled festival started on 29 December, a day after Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Barbara Rwodzi, officially opened the event.

The festival was held at Baobab Primary School, a venue adopted for the benefit of the community.

The organisers came up with a predominantly local line-up of artistes with Victoria Falls artists being given the nod ahead of others.

While rains had initially threatened to disturb the event, the cross-over night was clear and thousands enjoyed music and dance while saying goodbye to 2023 and ushering in the new year.

Mapopoma Festival project manager, Sandra Mlambo said this year’s edition was a new experience for everyone.

“We had a huge and overwhelming turnout with people that came from across the border in Zambia and South Africa and everybody enjoyed the festival,” she said.

“We thank our sponsors for making the event a success. As Mapopoma Festival we are happy and proud to have hosted one of the most exciting festivals in the past five years and we expect to give you much better next year with regional artistes.”

Festival spokesperson, Leslie Phiri, said revellers came from across the country.

“As Mapopoma Festival we are so excited that we have witnessed one of the biggest shows to be held in the tourism capital of Zimbabwe,” he said.

“We had a number of activities happening, starting with the Minister of Tourism coming through to speak about a number of tourism issues and how Mapopoma seeks to complement the Government efforts of creating an upper middle-income economy by 2030 and also feeding into National Development Strategy.”

Phiri said this year’s event was the best in terms of celebrating arts.

“We have done something phenomenal as we hosted a festival that was predominantly dominated by local artistes and people enjoyed.

“No one has ever pulled a crowd of more than 5 000 people in Victoria Falls with local artists being dominant in the lineup,” he said.

“I can authoritatively confirm that over the three days we had 6 000 people coming through to the festival. Its something that is new and life-changing for the people of Victoria Falls.”

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture, Mr Nicholas Moyo, also attended the event. Victoria Falls mayor councillor Prince Moyo expressed council commitment to supporting the festival.

Baobab Primary School is the biggest beneficiary of the festival as the organisers rehabilitated the grounds and erected a perimeter fence as part of giving back to the community.

The venue offered convenience to fun lovers as it is closer to town compared to previous venues.