Online Reporter
Gift Moyo, Sunday Life Reporter
THE postponement of the Harare International Festival of the Arts (Hifa) has sparked debate among Zimbabwean arts practitioners, with established creatives Nico Abote and Raisedon Baya weighing in on what it will take to revive one of the country’s most celebrated arts festivals.
Hifa had generated considerable excitement after announcing its return to Zimbabwe’s arts and music scene following an eight-year hiatus. The festival, renowned for staging some of the country’s biggest and most memorable arts performances had been expected to reclaim its position as one of Zimbabwe’s premier cultural events.
Arts lovers had circled August 3 to 9 on their calendars in anticipation of Hifa’s long-awaited comeback.
However, as the dates drew closer, concerns began to emerge over the festival’s return. Hifa remained largely silent across its social media platforms, with no programme, artiste line-up or detailed information about the event being released.
Four days before the scheduled opening, Hifa finally announced that the festival had been postponed, disappointing thousands of arts lovers who had been looking forward to its return.
In a statement released on social media last month, the festival organisers said more time was needed to ensure that its comeback matched the standards associated with the Hifa brand.
“After careful consideration, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the Hifa programme that had been planned for August 2026. Reviving a festival with Hifa’s history, ambition, and scale is a significant undertaking.
“As preparations have progressed, it has become clear that giving ourselves more time is the most responsible way to ensure that Hifa returns with the artistic excellence, organisational care and sense of occasion that our audiences expect and deserve,” said Hifa.
The announcement left many arts lovers questioning whether Hifa would eventually return and if it does, what would be required to restore the festival to its former stature without compromising its reputation.
Award-winning filmmaker Nico Abote said reviving Hifa at the level audiences remember would require significant financial and human resources.
“Hifa is one of the largest international arts festivals in Zimbabwe, Africa and arguably the world, in terms of its artistic-cultural diversity and programming. It takes huge amounts of money and talent resources to reproduce the same kind of level and quality. Obviously in 2026, we deserve even better performances and showcases.
“I believe that a few things didn’t line up to their standards and they rightfully chose to postpone it,” said Abote.
For Abote, the decision to postpone the festival was therefore understandable given the scale of the undertaking and the expectations attached to the Hifa name.
Award-winning playwright and director Raisedon Baya, who is among organisers of the Intwasa
Arts Festival koBulawayo, however, broadened the conversation beyond Hifa, arguing that
Zimbabwe’s festival landscape as a whole needs to be reassessed.
“There are so many festivals in Zimbabwe that are struggling and that have gone under. They all need to be revised, all of them,” said Baya.
The Hifa postponement has nonetheless reignited conversations around the sustainability of major arts festivals in Zimbabwe, particularly those seeking to operate on a large scale while maintaining high artistic and organisational standards.
For many practitioners, Hifa’s proposed return had represented more than the revival of a festival.
It was also seen as an opportunity to reinvigorate Zimbabwe’s cultural calendar, create platforms for local and international artists and restore a major meeting point for the country’s creative sector.
