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This year’s edition of the festival was held under the theme “Bulawayo Blooming”.
Part of Saturday’s programme was the debut of Raisedon Baya’s much anticipated The Immigrants, at the Bulawayo Theatre. It is the prolific playwright’s first project after a period of dormancy. Also part of the programme for Saturday was the Sistaz Open Mic which was held at the Bulawayo City Hall car park. Sistaz Open Mic gives woman artistes a platform to showcase their skills and find their voices.
Also at the City Hall were the da-flow hip hop sessions which saw some of the city’s gifted artistes showcasing their talents with the likes of Tammy Jubbs, POY and Nashie captivating the crowd with their skills.
The day’s activities culminated with great performances on the Chibuku Stage by seasoned artistes Ndolwane Super Sounds and Jeys Marabini.
Ndolwane had the crowd in raptures as they performed some of their hits, while Jeys, fresh from a performance at the Oliver Mtukudzi birthday celebration concert on Friday, wowed the crowd with his music and skills on the guitar.
During his performance Jeys thanked the organisers of the festival as well as the people of Bulawayo for coming out to support the festival in numbers.
Jeys also delivered a special message from Tuku himself, who he said would like to thank the people of Bulawayo for their support of the arts.
The curtain came down on this year’s festival with a battle hosted by Miller that saw six DJs go head to head. The six DJs were selected among DJs who the sponsors felt had worked the hardest at promoting the Miller brand.
The six were cut to three, with the crowd favourites being Hustlers resident DJ, DJ Mzoe, and popular tribal house group Djembe monks group member DJ Black Cee, who progressed to the final three with DJ Mellow T.
The final battle ended up being a shootout between defending champion DJ Mzoe and Black Cee as Mellow T fell by the wayside. DJ Mzoe got the crowd on his side by belting out sounds with a local flavour with Black Cee also managing to steal their attention by showing great proficiency on the decks.
After the organisers had initially announced the battle as a tie, the crowd was divided about whom they preferred between the two.
The decision was reversed with DJ Mzoe coming out the winner and therefore retaining his crown. The two could not be separated as they both received a lot of support from the crowd but DJ Mzoe triumphed as he held a slight edge in support when the final winner was announced.
An enthusiast who attended most of the events held at the Chibuku Stage last week, hailed the organisers of the festival for bringing a memorable week to the city.
“The past week has been great and I think that the organisers have outdone themselves this year. It’s a shame that the festival is held once a year,” said the man who spoke to Chronicle Entertainment on condition of anonymity.
Another reveller applauded the festival for bringing a blend of art disciplines in this year’s festival which meant the festival could capture the attention of many people.
“I think the festival had a bit of everything for everyone because there were events which captured the attention of a lot of people, both young and old,” he said.
Online Reporter