A tale of beer festivals

Godwin Muzari Showbiz Mirror
The Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival that took place at Glamis Arena last weekend was quite a fun-filled event. Although Jamaica’s Konshens who was supposed to be the main act at the festival cancelled his tour at the eleventh hour, the fête went on very well and it appeared most people at the event felt indifferent about the change of programme. They came in their numbers and enjoyed themselves from Saturday afternoon to the early hours of Sunday. It was all about fun.

Now, another beer festival will be upon us next week.
The Sunset October Beer Festival takes place at Sunset Arena on Friday and Saturday and many activities are lined up for the two-day fête.
This October should be an exciting month for fun-lovers.

Although there would be no international act at the upcoming festival, organisers have engaged various artistes for the event.
Dancehall artistes dominate the list, which means that Tocky Vibes, Soul Jah Love and Shinsoman that were part of the Lion Larger Summer Beer Festival will return to the stage at another beer festival.

They did well at last week’s beer festival and another chance for them to entertain imbibers comes next week.
They will, of course have to battle it out with the likes of Seh Calaz, Killer T, Ricky Fire, Freeman, Lady Squanda and many others from the genre.
Many upcoming dancehall artistes are expected at Sunset Arena and these youngsters are always unpredictable.

They can fire from the blind side and give their established counterparts a tough time.
So, for Shinsoman, Tocky Vibes and Soul Jah Love, next week’s event will be a different affair.
Last week, the only other dancehall artiste at the show was Winky D. South Africa’s Uhuru and Jah Prayzah had different tastes to offer.

However, despite the presenting some different performers one thing is common about the two festivals – it is about fun, fun and more fun.
At last week’s festival people were mainly engaged in having fun among themselves. The attachment to the stage was a bit distant as compared to the previous festivals that had performers like Beenie Man and P-Square.

It seemed people had something else to enjoy about the festival.
For the whole night, there was pressure at the numerous liquor selling points that the organisers erected at the venue as people jostled to buy beverages.
The police had to maintain order at some of the points as imbibers got impatient with the pressure.

Most people went for discounted liquor brands. Imbibers bought beer in bulk to evade pressure and the fun continued until the morning.
Some of the drinkers said they did not care about what had happened on stage since they had come for “fun in the park”.
Despite the international acts that had good performances at previous beer festivals, many people are now asking:

What brings more fun to a beer festival?
Is it about stage acts or fun activities made for the audience?
Of course, music and general fun complement each other but it seems attendees are no longer worried much about who performs.
They just want music to complement the fun. That could be the reason why there was no outcry about the absence of Konshens and that could also explain why many did not bother to scrutinize Uhuru’s performance.

While at general music shows, people are usually attracted by performers, beer festivals seem hinged on the fun off the stage.
There might be no international act at the Sunset October Beer Festival but the fun will definitely continue.
Many people that attended last week’s festival are likely to be back to a similar territory next week.

Both organisers of the festivals have reiterated that the events are not meant to compete.
They complement each other in giving fun to the people. So, the fun continues next week.